Breaking harmony 1

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The summer in my homeland was not like the summer elsewhere. There, in the frozen wastes that my people called home, summer was when they might go outside without fear of freezing to death. Summer was when the sun sent some life giving warmth, granting my people an opportunity to travel into the woods, to hunt and gather in those rare times when it was safe to go outside. Summer was not a happy time.

Of course, winter was much worse, where the snow would often bury houses in a smothering blanket. When the air could freeze exposed skin in moments. When the beasts left the woods to feast upon frozen livestock or any that found themselves outside when the packs hunted.

So the people who lived in those inhospitable conditions lived for the summer, when it was possible that one might not be frozen or eaten for daring to walk outside.

I lived within a valley between two peaks, my humble abode set upon the side of the taller mount, deep within the pine forest that covered the mountain’s side and base. A village was just past the forest’s borders down below, a town shaped by an easier life than their neighbors just past the hills.

The woods I lived in were deadly, filled with monster, beast, and fey. Things that were purely elemental, and the fey would happily make anyone who came near them disappear. Playing with the fairies. Normally, my valley would be without any people, but the town below my home was large and safe.

Their presence was only possible because of my influence. You see, I am a hag, and a very good one. A hag is… a kind of go-between. They place themselves between mankind and the wilds. We commune with the woods and the spirits in the woods, softening them so that our people can live in these lands without the fear of death looming over them. Or we can make it worse, it depends on the hag. A hag’s power comes from the woods and spirits, and we had great power when we were within or near a wood.

Spirits are… beings. They do not have a physical form, and they are manifestations of nature. They have great power, and most spirits hold a great hate for mankind. They would bend the wind and call the snow and send the beasts in the wood to slay the people, if not for a hag’s intercession. The beasts in the woods repelled by their presence, the fey appeased and quieted through their sacrifice.

Hags did not have a good reputation despite those protections, and for good reasons. Our gifts come at a high price. Our talents can save your family, your village, but only at the cost of something dear, like a memento, or an heirloom… or a child.

Hags go beyond mere mortals, becoming like the spirits of the woods, or the fey that haunt the deepest forests. Something to be feared, and avoided under all but the most desperate of circumstances. Our prices are absolute, and are not set by us, but by The Order, the laws by which even the greatest of spirits were bound by.

I once, in my foolish youth, tried to reduce the price. It was by the rarest chance that my actions did not claim my life, but now I was better than any hag due to my… deal. Uwe, the great spirit of beyond, saved me from death and in exchange for his favor I gave my fate to him. He would be the one to set my death, but I could protect my people and help them beyond even the greatest of hags with his patronage.

Not that my people ever knew this, only knowing me as their hag. I never tried to dispel the natural fear that the villagers below my home felt toward me, but over time they warmed to my presence. Some of the smarter ones even realized that my ‘deals’ were better than any other hag, though they never knew why.

It was after living a long life and seeing all that men had to offer that I made my choice. I decided to help them as best as I could. In my valley even the depths of winter did not hold much terror for my people, for I calmed the winds that would have frozen them and reduced the snowfall to only heavy levels. I kept the beasts from terrorizing my people, and they flourished from my efforts. They never knew my works, but I did not care. I acted for my satisfaction, not for their praises.

And now I am old. My age is… not important, though I certainly looked like an old hag. I was bony, hunched despite my efforts to the contrary, my pale skin wrinkled and hanging, spots discoloring it along the left of my face. My hair was an ethereal white, faint and thin upon my balding head. My teeth, those that I still had, were yellow and one was crooked.

My dress was leather, with a faded green cotton over the tough material. I always kept most of myself covered, the dress falling to my ankles and rising to my neck in a single block, not a curve to be seen. It was old and torn along the bottom, my hood just as ragged and grey due to age and use. I kept this appearance willingly; it gave me a… role of sorts.

At first, I was feared, like any other hag. Then, slowly, that fear faded, for I never demanded anything, and those that came for aid left feeling happy for they did not pay the prices they expected. After a time, I would even get some of the members of the village visiting me just for the purpose of visiting me.

I became their hag, and they trusted in me to keep them safe. They even trusted me enough to leave their children in my care so that they might work.

The children of the village called me elder when they were older, grandmother when they weren’t. They would come to see me so often that there was a visible trail to my home leading through the snowy woods.

It was always the same; the eldest coming with confidence to ask me to tell them a tale, or to give them some form of sweet, the youngest hiding behind the nearby pines, peering out from behind the trunks. It always made me chuckle to see their nervousness and innocence.

And sometimes, very rarely, a girl would stay behind when the others left. They always had the same question: can you teach me to be a hag?

I had never taken an apprentice. Becoming a hag required a fire in the soul that can’t be dampened, a will of iron that can’t be bent, and a stomach to lose any inhibitions. The girls never held all three, though some did have one or two of the required traits. It is not enough to have some. I always shooed them off, or I would scare them with simple illusions and tricks, laughing as they ran back to the village as though a bear was chasing them. It was for the best really.

It was growing late that day as I finished telling a tale to the collected children that sat about my fire. I was sitting on my stump, the children on the grass around me, my empty cauldron hanging over the fire that allowed us to sit in warmth. I knew endless tales of adventure, and some of them even ended happily. The children never cared, their ears always wanting more of any kind of story, so long as it sprang from my lips.

I finished the tale (the hero got ate by the dragon) and stood up slowly and painfully (my bones and joints ached when I moved them). I pulled my hood back over my head, the surrounding youth either standing with me, or whining that they desired more.

“It grows late children.” I said, my voice crackling and dry, “You need to go now before the owls wake.”

“But…” it varied from there, but the meaning was the same.

I began shooing them away, smiling. “Go! Get! Unless you want the fairies to take you!” I watched them go, giggling at my words, my heart warmed by their ignorance. The fairies would take them if they went in the dark, but they were unaware of the danger. A strong sign that I was doing my job well.

I turned back to my home but stopped upon seeing three young girls waiting for me. I suspected that they had dared one another. I already knew what they wanted to ask.

I lowered my head and sighed, “You three want to be hags?” They all nodded, wringing their hands in nervousness.

I did not even bother to look; no other had possessed the requirements, why would these three?

I pushed my hood back, keeping my head down. I took a deep breath and focused. A sudden wind kicked up, swirling around the clearing, my hair raising on its own accord, individual stands writhing in the air. My skin whitened and I glowed with a soft white light as I lifted off the ground a few inches. My eyes lit, one green and the other blue (nature and spirits, I always liked that) as I snapped my head up to look at them, my mouth suddenly filled with dagger-like teeth as I smiled.

This took place in a single moment, and I stood back in my normal form in less time than it would take to turn around. To my shock, only two of them ran screeching down the worn trail. Despite her terror, the third stood before me still, her head bowed low as she trembled in place.

I didn’t know what to think for a moment before I looked at her. Really looked. Hags had the sight to see souls; it helped when dealing with the spirits. With my sight I could see into her soul, her essence, and it glowed with every requirement, and a fire burned within that would make her a great hag. She had talent to put my own to shame. I was speechless for a few moments, both that I had nearly wasted her talent with my foolish scare, and that I had finally found a capable apprentice after decades of losing hope.

I had thought I would die before I found someone to take up my shawl.

I collected myself before I responded. I did have to maintain an illusion of certainty in my actions after all.

“Very good.” I said. “You passed.” I lied.

Her head snapped up, her eyes lighting with hope.

“Really?!” she squealed, “You’ll teach me grandmother? I can become like you?”

I nodded and she jumped in happiness, making me chuckle at her youth. “But not today my child. Go back to your home and settle your affairs. Being a hag requires sacrifice, and the first is family. Say your goodbyes and return, if you can bring yourself to.”

“I shall!” she called back as she ran back to the village below.

“And bring a gift!” I yelled after her, straining my voice to be heard, “They like gifts!” My ears failed to pick up her reply, but I smiled anyway as I went to my home.

I do not live in luxury; my hut is slumped with age and the thatch roof is covered in snow. It’s only two rooms, both just large enough to accommodate three men if they pressed together. The floor and door creaked as I entered, and I lit my covered lantern with a snap of my fingers. The light illuminated the overcrowded inside.

Shelves line the walls and every last one is filled to overflowing with vials, regents, herbs, the bones of animals, and more. I often use everything that can be found in my hut, but some I keep for sentimental reasons, like a small chest of jewelry, or the skull that sat in a place where it could see most of the room. A small table and chair sit to the side, the table covered by mortal and pestles, tiny piles of glittering dust, and several butterfly wings. My room is just beyond, containing my bed and another table. My diaries lay on the table. Three of them filled with my spidery writing and the fourth growing full.

I spent a moment to gather the dust into a mortar before continuing into my bed. I sighed as my lantern doused itself and relaxed, deciding to go to bed far earlier than I normally did (normally I would stay up all night and sleep as the sun rose).

I felt as if a great weight had been taken from me. I had found someone to take my place and I might live out the last days of my life in peace. Maybe I could have even gone and lived in the village itself after a few years. I was soon sleeping like a log, dreaming of teaching the girl and leaving this land in good hands.

I always wonder if I might have done something else, if I could have prevented or even reduced… But it is of no matter now. The past is set, and all the strength and wisdom of the world cannot change it.

I stirred in my sleep as the forest called to me. I jolted awake as it screamed my name, and I climbed from my bed in a moment. It had only been two hours since I laid down.

That is not to say that the woods were somehow vocalizing their call so that anyone could hear it. As a hag, I could hear the sounds of the spirits and the forest. Any might hear the words of a spirit if they listen, but the voice of a forest could only be heard by a trained hag. The forest might have one or many voices, the larger the forest the more numerous the voices. They did not sound like normal voices. Their words are… understood, more than they are heard.

They were telling me of fire, invaders, and death down in the town below. They had been trying to wake me for an hour and my blood chilled. An hour is a long time, and I dreaded what I might find.

I threw my shawl over my shoulders and grabbed my lantern as I exited into the cold night. I hurried through the woods, noticing the lack of the normal creatures that prowled my woods during the night. Their absence was not a good sign and I forced my legs faster, wishing that I could fly to the village and cursing my aching bones that prevented me from moving faster.

I stopped when I came upon the village. Fire rose from the town in great flames that roared into the air, black smoke choking the dark sky. The men lay in the snow, cut down, their blood staining the white beneath them. I stepped forward slowly, taking care not to step upon the bodies.

The town was filled with dead, the flames carrying the unmistakable scent of burning bodies and the heat was uncomfortable even with the cold wind. Old, young, women, men, babes… not one was left alive, littering the streets and staining the white snow red. I slowly walked, not really feeling anything as I saw dead bodies in the street and dead bodies burning in the ruins of their homes.

I wondered as I crept along, what had done this? A creature of the wood might slaughter the village to the last, but every last one feared fire. Men often raided one another, for food, slaves, or wives, but no raider or conqueror would slay every last soul. Then I saw a sight that caused me to stop and my frozen hopes to shatter.

The same girl from before, the one that had shown such promise. She clutched at two dead children, possibly her siblings, all three huddled together even in death. She had tried to protect them even as she had been run through.

I felt old. I felt like death had passed over me, and for a moment I wondered what I had worked for all those years.

I had failed them all. They were dead and it was my fault. My life was nearing its end and right then there was no real reason for me to continue living. I had built my life around the town, and now it was gone, lost in a single night. My light died, but a dark fire lit within me as I continued looking to the dead girl.

It filled me, and I only thought of one thing then: revenge. I would make their killers suffer, torment them like no man should be. I pulled myself from the depression with the darkness, holding onto the red hot hate that I felt. Vengeance would be mine.

Then I would go to my hut and die. Hate can keep a man going far past his limits, but it burns the soul, destroying the humanity within and making one a monster. I was willing to be that monster then; at least until I had had my fill of vengeance. Then I would go to my home and lie down and never wake again.

I heard voices and followed them with a dark glint in my eye. I found some men. Men in black armor that covered them head to toe. They celebrated amidst the dead and flames, recalling favorite parts of the battle which often included killing the women as they ran, laughing as they cut down screaming children. They were covered in dark magic. Dark forces imbued their armor and I snarled at the sight.

Dark magic was unnatural, only fit for destruction, and no hag or shaman (male hags, at least somewhat) would permit the practice so long as they breathed. I didn’t know where they had gotten the stuff, but I didn’t care. I needed to find their leader; he would have the worst of my wrath first. His men would run in fear and I would hunt them down like the rabid dogs they were.

They saw me soon. “What this!? We musta missed one boys!”

They taunted one another in jest as I approached. They stopped dead as I came close, my glowing eyes boring into their own; one blue, and the other green, both with hints of red.

“Move.” I said, my tone unnaturally deep. They scattered, several running into the town to escape as I continued past them uncaring, looking for their leader.

I spotted him at last, his armor more decorated than his men and such amounts of dark magic suffusing his form that the firelight dimmed near him. He saw me and came to me, a swagger in his step and arrogance in his stance.

“The village hag come to her people’s aid? You are a little late, witch.” He spat on the ground, “They are all dead, look around you!” He gestured with his arms to the destruction that surrounded us, “Too late! Too little too late!”

He noticed my snarling face and chuckled. “A worthless hound bares her missing teeth? You hold no more sway over me, woman. You are old and weak, your body failing with each passing moment. And do not claim mastery over nature or magic. I know that every last one of your kind only claims great power. You have no magic beyond what you can convince others you possess.”

“But you can always try to convince me…” his voice leered as he drew his sword, the blade practically glowing with dark magic.

I was enraged beyond words, beyond thought. He was taunting me and I blazed with hate. As I raised my hand and pointed at hi my only word was “Suffer.”

A slow moving mist flowed from my outstretched hand, lazily twining across the distance between us. It glittered and glowed, shifting colors as it approached him, beautiful in appearance and graceful as it drifted. My deadliest spell. He was smirking, I know that he was smirking, as he lifted his sword and sliced at it.

The world was suddenly devoured in white. I drifted in a white emptiness, floating, nothing to define anything around me. Then the white was broken by black, the color breaking and attacking the white that surrounded me. I couldn’t feel or hear anything as I watched the two colors war with one another, overwriting one another faster than I could register. A fatigue came on me, sapping my strength and paining me as the shifting grew faster, and more furious.

I am not sure how long I spent unable to act, but eventually the drain proved too much and I fell unconscious.

I woke sluggishly, my spirit retaking its mortal home slowly. I way lying on my side, resting on grass. I struggled to full wakening, my limbs numb and unresponsive as I weakly flailed, trying to stand. My eyes slowly opened, and I ceased moving at the sight. I was in a forest far unlike the one I had lived in for most of my life.

No snow was present. A warm light filtered through the treetops, and a warm breeze drifting through the treetops. I knew that trees were usually covered in leaves, but I lived far in the north, far past where such a plant could survive and the sight was a… surprise. Smaller plants littered the ground; bushes, creepers, and flowers that were mostly unfamiliar to my eye.

All of the plants, even the trees, were all quite colorful, and at the time I assumed that yellow and orange and red were normal colors for the place. I now know better. It was fall here even though I had left my own land during the early summer.

As I lay there, staring at my surroundings, I realized why I was unable to stand. I had four legs, and no arms. This was far from the first time I had changed my form into an animal, and it was with experience that I climbed to my… hooves I noted. I made sure that I was looking at my feet, and not something else and then stood and looked about me.

My hut lay just behind me, slightly more slumped than normal, wet with melting snow. My cauldron was on its side nearby. I trotted up to my home and seized the latch in my mouth; hooves would be unable to work the latch, I knew that from experience. It seemed I was rather small, as I had to stretch to reach the latch and the house itself seemed much larger than before. My head only reached the top of my table as I entered.

I went with purpose to one corner and pulled a covering off of one of my precious items. A cloudy mirror greeted me, and I took in my reflection in the ancient object.

It seemed that I was some kind of tiny, white pony, with a grey mane and tail, far thicker than my original hair. Both shimmered in the light, as if my hair was now made of silver. My skin was tighter, lacking most of its wrinkles, and my eyes were huge, the size of plates. I stared at the sight for a moment in surprise. I looked closer, noting that my eyes no longer matched; the left was an icy blue, the other a forest green. I knew that that would be noticeable, even from a distance, with those oversized peepers.

I took a breath and called the forest, anticipating being able to return to my true form without difficulty. ‘Calling’ was what I… erm… called it, and it could be understood that I was speaking the same way that the forest did. It was my own talent, and most hags couldn’t mimic it. I could even call spirits, making finding the powerful beings a far easier task.

A chill swept over me when I did not receive a response immediately. I always got a response immediately, but I wasn’t now. After a short while a frail and uncertain response came to me.

The forest was there, but felt… dumb, stupid, or even newborn. It had never been spoken too before, and as I asked it for aid I was met with confusion. It didn’t know how to help me. It didn’t know how large it was. It didn’t even know what dwelled within its borders and was even uncertain that it was a forest.

I took a deep breath to calm myself. For some reason, the forest had been crippled to near death, barely able to think, much less act. I would be stuck as a pony it seemed. I wondered what I would do, trapped in a new shape and lost somewhere unfamiliar to me. Then it struck me.

I would help this forest. After all, it wasn’t like I had a people anymore, and it did need a helping hand, or hoof considering I no longer had hands. Or maybe mouth considering hooves were near useless hand replacements. I would either find what crippled it so and cure it, or teach it to become as it should be with my last few years of life.

I reached further, calling for the spirits that I knew would have to dwell within this wood; it didn’t know, but it was a large forest. I could tell and spirits loved places like this.

I was met with an absolute silence as though any spirit that had lived here had died, and died long ago. I was horrified; this was unnatural in every single way that I could imagine.

Imagine going into a town and not only discovering that the first person you met had the mind of a babe, but that the rest of the houses were abandoned. My mind filled with fears, trying to explain the lack of spirits. A dumb forest might happen, but there were always spirits and I was terrified to find what might have become of them.

What monster had done this? I remembered every last nightmare and beast that might cause this. If they were infesting the wood, I would not have be able to deal with them. I needed spirits to fight them, and there were no spirits, possibly because of the nightmares I would need them to fight. I was terrified for a moment until I felt something faint.

I sensed a spirit in the distance, and I began heading toward it, feeling hopeful that I wasn’t going to have to fight alone. I was unfamiliar with the forest, but one wood is the same as any other. It only took some mild effort to evade the thorns and vines and poisonous plants that flourished in the wood. There was a good variety as well, many different possibilities for later use.

Eventually I came upon a gorge. It dropped below me for nearly a hundred feet, barren rock save for a few hardy weeds. Plants didn’t even drape over the side and the grass stopped a few feet from the edge. The cliff dropped straight down and only a small set of stairs led to the basin below. I looked at that with apprehension. I had never gotten along with stairs when I stood upright, much less when I walked on four legs. It was both slow and painful for me, my age you understand.

It was… less difficult than I had anticipated. It was difficult, but not painful and as I went it became easier. I stood at the bottom and recovered for a moment before continuing to follow my trail. I walked into a cavern and stopped dead as the inside came into view.

A gigantic crystal tree that glowed with light sat in the back of the cave. Six pieces of golden jewelry rested in six recesses in the branches and trunk; five necklaces that seemed to glow, each a hefty semicircle with a shaped gem in the middle and a tiara with a large star-shaped gem. The rest of the cave glittered with smaller crystals in the walls and a few large lily pads decorated the edges in small ponds.

I walked toward the tree in awe, having never seen small crystals, much less the one before me. It shined with beauty I had never seen something possess, not even the fey. I walked up to it and reached out a hoof to touch it. The moment I did so I recoiled as though it had burned me.

Had I felt that right? I touched it again and gasped. I had found the cause of the forest’s loss of self and the missing spirits. Two spirits were locked within the tree’s hard shell, held in place by a strange magic. It was not dark, but I was unable to name the stuff that bound them.

To clarify, magic comes in several forms. There are natural forces, the same power that hags channel from the forests and spirits. There are dark forces, destructive, evil, forces that cannot be used for any good act. Finally, there is the arcane force. The arcane force is the magic that denied understanding, the lighting of candles, levitation of objects and the like. I had some grasp of that. My illusion of a horrifying face is a good example. That was not any of the three.

It had a pattern of sorts, tendrils of magic spreading from the center of the tree. I followed the trails of power and noted that they clustered around the necklaces, with a lone trail leading into the surrounding forest. As I examined the tree, I noted that it sort of felt like a spirit; one that had trapped its brethren and lived as a crystal tree, but a spirit all the same.

That explained everything. I was looking at an invading spirit that wanted to dominate the surrounding land, but was unable to affect anything but other spirits. It must have overpowered the ones that were trapped in it, and then crippled the forest nearby in rage when it realized that it held no power over material objects.

Normally, spirits that did this were covered in dark magic, but this one wasn’t. Maybe this was some strange kind of dark magic? That didn’t make sense, but I didn’t know it, and it did behave the same way…

I decided to break the thing’s stranglehold, but hesitated. I was a hag, and with Uwe’s patronage, could be known as a spirit. I would also need to combat it in the manner of a spirit which would expose me to its power. Would that thing lash out at me if I tried to break its hold? Would I fall under its grip like the spirits it bound? Could I be caught by it as well?

I took the chance. I reached out, sending my own soul into the tree, willing to bet that I could do what I set out to do.

Focusing, I grabbed at the tiny tendril holding the forest and ripped at it, shredding it under my will. It was like cutting butter at first, the power giving way with ease. At the last it became like glass, slicing into me as I broke the last of it and I cried out. It had reacted too late though, and with a smile despite my pain I severed its grip.

The forest immediately reached out to me, washing away the pain and covering me in a protective layer of energy. I looked up at the tree with a triumphant grin.

“Hurt didn’t it? That is just the start you beast!” I taunted. A tiredness came over me and I slumped. It was difficult to influence spirits and could easily be dangerous to attack them, for several reasons. It takes a lot of energy to fight them and I could easily fall dead from exhaustion with only a few moments of effort. Or it could strike back at me; it almost had and it would be infinitely more capable than I in the attack.

I hadn’t thought of the difficulty and it had surprised me with its strength, but the forest came to my aid and bolstered me. It didn’t even know me, but offered its help even without my needing to ask, healing me and rejuvenating my flagging strength. I liked its sense of selflessness. I asked the forest to get me back to my home, and didn’t think of how it might accomplish this task.

I laid down and waited. A beast came in, a massive cat with a ruff of red fur around its head as though framing it. It had two bat wings and an armored tail ending in a barb like a fishing hook. It picked me up like I was a kitten, and if I hadn’t have been so tired I would have taught it respect.

It got me back to my home, covering me it its spit in the process. It licked me with a tongue that uncomfortably pulled at my skin and coat and walked back into the woods pleased with its efforts.

“I am going to have a talk with you later.” I muttered at the forest as I dragged myself to my bed. I could feel its confusion as I climbed in; hadn’t it gotten me here, like I had asked?

“Don’t understand… explain later…” I mumbled as I drifted off, smiling as it perked up and turned its attention elsewhere, presumably to make up for lost time.

How long had it been bound? How long had those spirits been bound? I drifted to sleep with the forest eagerly getting to know itself and begin… something. I didn’t care what it was doing anyway. In one day I had seen the death of my village, my transport to a new place, and my fight, regardless how small, with a wicked spirit. What could it do to merit my attention over all that?

The Everfree had awoken after such a long time dormant that none could truly recall when it had ever been awake. While I slept the forest became active.

It woke the creatures within, shook the dust of the ages from its plants and then looked around itself. Mostly, it was field, but there was another forest just next to one part of it. It couldn’t feel those trees that seemed to grow in rows, and assumed that it was a part of itself.

An understandable mistake, considering it had only recently regained its senses.

So it set out to do two things, one normal for a forest, the other, less so.

First, it wished to spread and caused a faint stir when it used animals to scatter seeds a few feet beyond its borders. That was fine and normal, if overly aggressive.

Next, it wished to reclaim the forest just beyond, and thought that if it could get things it could feel amongst things it couldn’t, then it might feel those trees as well. The chaos it caused when it had sent its creatures into that place loaded down with seeds and saplings must have been quite the sight.

Its actions would have been fruitless anyway. The forest beyond was an orchard, and not part of the Everfree. The ponies managed to fend it off, and the Everfree was left puzzling why its plan didn’t work. I later explained to it that it was not the only forest in the world, and it had to respect those boundaries.

And that is how the forest grew very concerning to the ponies outside it, and they began watching and searching for any reason as to why it was now behaving like this.

Breaking harmony 2

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A few days passed as I prepared for my next attempt at the crystal tree. I grew used to my new form, taking great pleasure in realizing the odd range of movement my limbs had, as well as the strange ability to grasp with my hooves. In some ways, I had regained my hands. I was clumsy yet, but growing better by the moment.

My age restricted me yet, but I felt younger. Less pain greeted me when I turned or bent, and my face was more youthful now; I even had a full set of teeth again!

I really stepped in a thorn bush when I managed to convince that beast from earlier to share his kill with me. I waited with breathless anticipation as I grilled the hunk of meat over a small fire I had constructed. With teeth, I could, once again, enjoy the pleasures of a diet consisting of things beyond soup or gruel! Or so I thought. Unfortunately, it seemed my diet now resembled the diet of the body I inhabited.

The entire day after, I was sick, wishing I was dead, the forest unable to assist me due to the purely natural affliction. What really got to me was that I had done it to myself.

I was despondent whenever I wasn’t in crippling agony, sad over the loss of an ability I thought I had regained. I did get some benefits from my new form though. I could eat nearly any plant now, and they even had a variety in tastes that I took to tracking, sampling everything and remembering what had tasted the best.

On the third day of my arrival I was ready to fight once more and I set off toward the tree with a sack loosely tied to my barrel filled with… a green bush with pointy leaves that I had uprooted. I’m not sure what it was called, but it was fairly tasty, like a yam.

I arrived at the tree and glared at it with determination. The streams of power had strengthened around the necklaces, the bonds around the spirits growing stronger. That was almost certainly because I had been preventing it from regaining its hold on the woods. The thing’s power was strangely weak at the start of its grip, and I had easily broken its tenuous hold day after day.

“Right.” I said, “Today, I begin the freedom of your captives. If you let them go, I might even think about forgiving you your trespass.” I waited for its response and receiving nothing, assumed that it was defying my offer of mercy.

“You brought this on yourself then.” I backed up, prepared myself and leapt up, grabbing onto the necklace with the blue gem in the shape of a balloon with my front hooves. It stuck fast and I hung there as I reached out and struck at the power beyond.

The tree reacted, its power burning and cutting into me as I continued to strike against it. It felt as though I was running through thorns. That were on fire.

The spirit just beyond jolted at my battering of its cage and surged forward, slamming into the far side, straining against its bonds. The forest reached out and strengthened me, bolstering my endurance so that I could endure the pain and continue my attack.

Every blow was agony, every moment a torment of fire and blade. Without the forest I would be a lifeless husk on the floor, dead from my exertion and burned away by the tree’s power. It seemed hopeless, even with the prisoner’s assistance and I slowed in my attack. I can’t do it I thought before my stubborn nature took hold. I would do it or die in the attempt.

Suddenly, the necklace gave way slightly. A sense of purpose filled me, and gave me strength far beyond what I might have been capable of normally. I slammed against the power with the greatest sense of understanding I ever felt, seeing exactly where and how I needed to strike to break its grip. With a powerful snap the necklace broke into two. Its gem shattered, glittering bits sparkling in the air as I fell.

I hadn’t made it two feet down before the newly freed spirit snatched me up and lifted me into the air, screaming its freedom and thanks. It resembled a horse, made of wind and fog, its grip cold and chilling. Comforting the burn I had just felt.

I trembled as the forest healed me, my physical body showing the extent of my spiritual injury. My coat was burned off, and I bled from deep cuts across my form. I smiled in triumph despite my injuries, noticing that the branch that had held the necklace had lost all luster and now appeared grey and lifeless.

As the spirit set me down and as my injuries faded and vanished due to the forest’s intervention I cackled at it. “See!? I told you! You are a blight that needs to be uprooted and I’m the hag for the job! Fight all you want, but you are going to die!”

I continued to cackle for a time, feeling greater than I had ever been, eventually calming down. I took in my form, now renewed and noticed two matching markings on my flanks. Six musical notes in a line, each one a different color: one pink, one blue, one red, one orange, one purple and the last a dark pink. Each one was fragmented into several pieces, the broken bits close enough together to tell how they would be restored.

I wondered why the thing had decided to tattoo me, and looked back at the broken necklace at my feet. The spirit didn’t like it, and told me as much. I picked up the pieces and suddenly grinned, a wicked idea coming to my mind.

It took some time, but I drew a matching figure of the tree in the dirt in front of it. With great care I placed the broken jewelry on the representation where it had rested on the tree.

I looked to it again, “I’m going to get the rest of them too! Every last bit of you, put right in front of your corpse! Because you think that you should control what should never be controlled!”

I felt tired once more, the internal fire from before fading and leaving me cold and lifeless. I gently laid on the ground. “If you could be so kind?” I asked the spirit hovering near me.

It scooped me up in its cold grip and swept me away, carrying me high above the woods. I saw their size and smiled. I saw its neighboring forest, right on top of the forest’s boundaries, the scattered Everfree still infesting it and frowned. I saw the colorful village not far from its borders and wondered who, or what, might live there.

The sprit gently laid me at my home and I struggled inside, giving it my thanks. It returned with an offer of undying gratitude; it had been trapped for much longer than I could comprehend, and at long last it was free. In thanks, it would always be ready to help me in any manner I saw fit. I told it that it didn’t need to be that subservient, and smiled as it insisted.

After my fight with the tree I was exhausted for two days. My form belied my age, but I was still old. I was… very old, far past the normal lifespan for my people. I was hearty and tough, but I did not have much time left in my life. Even less if I were to use my every effort to remove the invasive spirit from this land.

I wasn’t going to stop because of that. I would never stop protecting the natural way of things, be it from mortals or spirits. I passed the time during my infirmity by telling the forest, the Everfree, about my life elsewhere. It held an endless curiosity for new things, and always wanted what other forests had. Like a spoilt child really.

I couldn’t indulge its every whim, but I kept it happy with the thought that it too might one day be home to the creatures of my tales. Fey could go anywhere, and the geistermen as my people called them (dark wood sprits, nasty things) could easily make a home here.

Both entities were more than likely to harm or destroy neighboring settlements, but I had no connection to the people outside of my wood, the ones who lived in the colorful houses. Why protect that which I didn’t know about?

Why bother, when the only people I had cared for had been burned to the ground, slaughtered to the last? The wood would always be there for me, and I would always be there for it. It would stay that way until the day I pass, with the forest all around me. And I would be happy.

I had been collecting my dinner in the woods when I received my first visitor. The freed spirit had wandered off, and he had found it. He had followed it all the way back to me and my heart nearly failed when he sprang free of the bushes.

He is quite the sight for someone who doesn’t know him. He stands the height of a tree, towering over me. A pair of yellow eyes with red centers, a goat head with a black mane and mismatched horns, one an antler and the other an oddly bent blue goat horn. Feathers cover his long and thin torso, a lion’s paw and a griffon’s claw for hands.

He usually floats, but if he walked, he slouched, always looking down due to his height. His entire body is one long log shape; no points or bumps. Two bat wings are on his back, his tail and one leg that of a dragon, his other leg like a deer’s. He has a tiny white beard, white hair on the top of his head, one fang jutting from a smirk, and his tail ends in a fluffy white tuft.

He shocked me very badly. I hadn’t even sensed his approach and I had assumed that nothing like him was anywhere nearby. Despite my shock I recovered quickly and thought that he was a spirit, which helped explain his strange appearance to me. Since spirits tended to get mad when they weren’t greeted, I calmed and tried to ignore my racing heart.

“I did not see you! Forgive me, but you have caught an old lady during her dinner. I hold no gift or grudge toward you.” I said, trying to calm my heart as I spoke the proper greeting. I also wondered why I had never sensed him before now. He had a lot of power, and at the time, I just assumed that he was visiting, coming from a long way.

“Such an unusual phrase.” He said in that smooth tone of his, claws scratching his chin. “No gift or grudge? Whatever might you mean?”

I hesitated. “You are a spirit, correct? But then, you have a solid form… Ah! You are an avar then! But why do you look like that, and who are you? I do not recognize you or your shape.”

Avars are spirits with a mortal form, weaker than their purely spiritual brethren. They are known for wandering about and never having a home, and for their mismatched appearances. Not as mismatched as he was mind you, and he was quite powerful for an avar, stronger than most spirits I’d met before. Maybe even as strong as Uwe, the spirit that ruled the beyond and judged the dead.

I stopped him dead with my comment, a confused look appearing on his face. I think that that is what caused him to like me, because he smiled rather widely.

“You do not know me? Me?! Really!?” He roared with laughter, flipping onto his back and holding his stomach, floating in the air.
He stopped abruptly and looked to me again, “Never in all my years… You,” his claw detached from his arm and tapped at my forehead before reappearing on his arm, “and you alone are the very first! To NOT know who and what I am! Though I suppose I am a spirit of sorts.”

It was my turn to be befuddled. What did he mean? I should know him? Why? “You are… welcome?” I said, trying to guess at his meaning. “But what do you mean avar? Forgive me, but this old mind cannot understand you.”

“I am quite famous you know.” Odd statement, odder still that he got a pair of black glasses from nowhere and put them over his yellow eyes. They disappeared again as he stood tall, “My name… is Discord! The spirit of chaos and disharmony! And you are?”

“My name…”

I did not want to give him my name. Names have power, especially with spirits and fey.

His knowledge of my name would make me susceptible to his powers. As a hag I was resistant to spiritual effects, but with my name that resistance would be like a weak breeze. My deal with Uwe would also keep me safe, but I did not wish to test the strength of that.

“My name is Hag.”

He did it first, so I had decided to follow suit. His name made no sense. Spirits weren’t spirits of anything where I had come from and his name complimented his chosen attributes. So mine would too; hag was what I was, just as he was discord.

The rest of the conversation did not go better as he grew relaxed at my presence and loosened up. I swiftly found that telling him to stop something was a great way to make it worse. A tree was made of candy and the bush I wanted to eat was made of some sticky substance before I figured that out. He truly lived up to his name. I never saw anything use power for the things he did.

He failed to draw any more information out of me, and if he said anything meaningful it was drowned in the nonsense (or fish. Or fruits, or animals, it didn’t seem to matter to him) that he replied with. He left after telling me he had a date (some odd book with numbered squares was produced, a tiny discord pointing at one in particular) and that he had to go. A strange leather outfit with a hat appeared on him and he zoomed off astride nothing.

I only kind of missed him. He was far more animate than the Everfree and I couldn’t be bored with him around. One the other hand… or other hoof, I suspected, and rightly, that he had figured out that messing with the forest was a good way to get me mad. I did not want him injuring my new home with his twisted humor without good cause, and his leaving did guarantee that he wasn’t transforming any more plants.

Breaking Harmony 3

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I arrived at the crystal tree late next day, several different plans for defeating it in mind. I might be able to break it, or even poison it, and that would make my job far easier if I could.

The great cat (the beast that had dragged me home and shared its meal) failed to even scratch the thing, breaking its claws for its trouble.

The poison evaporated.

Evaporated! One touch of glittering trunk and it was gone like a light snow next to a raging bonfire! I got very upset at that. What did this thing think it was, subverting the natural way like that?! It could have just resisted or been immune, but no, it had to stand above everything as though it and it alone decided what was proper!

With the help of the great cat I reached the next branch, the one with the necklace with a red gem in the shape of a lightning bolt. I seized it with some ferocity and began my attack, taking out my anger on it.

The pain was worse than last time, I am certain. With each strike it felt as though I was cut with burning swords, piercing metal digging into my flesh. I was too angry to fully notice, though I am sure that my screaming could be heard for miles.

The spirit beyond watched and did not help. I cursed it with every burning breath until the tree finally gave. The great cat caught my form, quickly dropping me. I was on fire.

I rolled and doused myself as the Everfree frantically tried to restore me to health. I thought I saw bone beneath blackened flesh for a moment before I glared at the new spirit as it emerged.

“I was helping you! What were you doing?!” I yelled.

It nearly flew off before the previous spirit stopped it. I could hear a heated argument from them. The first spirit was upset and wanted the second to return to me and give me my due. The second wanted nothing to do with anything, even being willing to ignore my actions.

“Get over here,” I said, my tone poisonous and deadly as I scowled, “Before I invoke the rights.”

It was over me in a flash. The rites would invoke the spirit’s own laws, The Order, and that bound them tighter than anything. Should it not have helped me I could easily have called for its erasure, its complete removal from reality, such that even I would never remember that it had existed.

I held that right. I had freed it, it had not helped, and it had tried to flee its debts.

The first I had let free without payment, though it still helped me. This one would serve me until I died. I got that deal too, though it took the combined efforts of its brethren and my dire threats against its very existence to convince it to agree.

With that done I struggled to my feet and trekked back to my home. Upon entering the small abode I stopped, stunned at the sight.

Every last one of my regents and things floated without cause or reason within a space that only loosely resembled my home. It was much larger, and the space was shaped with no regard to reason. The floor jutted this way and that like a tiny mountain range and the walls and ceiling were no better.

In the midst of it all, laying back in a cushioned chair that hovered in the middle of the room and reading some large sheets of paper was Discord. He wore a pair of glasses and smoked a pipe, colorful jerkin on his feathered torso and slippers on his feet. The papers rustled as he folded one, reading the stack like a book, all sides of the papers covered in writing. He looked up as I opened the door and smiled.

“Hag!” he called out happily as he waved to me, papers vanishing as he tossed them aside, “So good to see you again. I’ve made myself at home, much better now really.”

“I cannot walk on slopes like that Discord.” I muttered, looking about, “Nor do I appreciate my things being jumbled together.”

“Oh that.” He said dismissively, waving a paw in my direction, “They aren’t jumbled together, they are all separate, see?” He waved a hand through one of the floating masses, the stuff shifting to allow his paw to pass through unhindered. “They aren’t even touching each other!”

I got the direct impression that he was pushing his boundaries. Here, he could cause havoc and destruction and find no consequences. Or so he thought.

I took a chance. “The spirit Discord, I command you by name.” I said, my tone brooking no argument from the irritating… thing that hovered in what used to be my home.

“Put my house back to the state it was when I left today, sit in a chair, and use that power of yours to make me some tea.” I said. Avars are very difficult to command, and I was still uncertain if he truly was a spirit. If my attempt failed I was very unsure what he would do, or how I would manage him.

He laughed at me for a moment, “What do you think… wait what?”

I watched wide-eyed, shocked that it had worked. He was dragged about by a strong force recreating my home with an effort that was not of his choice. I could not prevent my grin from growing and, as his protests over being unable to command himself grew, began giggling.

With a final flourish he plopped into a seat and snapped his fingers, a pot of tea appearing on the table as well as several cups. At his look of absolute indignation and confusion I could stand it no longer. I fell over laughing, certain that I would never stop.

“What did you just do?” He growled at me, eyes flashing dangerously.

I tried to catch my breath and tried to respond even as he threatened me. “You… you actually gave me your name! Your real name! Didn’t matter to you, just give out your name to anyone!”

He grew even more confused at this, the threat of violence fading (I’m sure he wouldn’t have hurt me). In short, the names of spirits are very powerful things, and any hag could manipulate the bearer of the name with ease. Spirits clutched to their names with unmatched ferocity and secrecy, even the smallest and most stupid amongst them realizing that their name held power over them. So they used other names, like Uwe, or Gazee, or Err.

Somehow Discord did not know this. He might not have been a perfect spirit, part avar and part spirit, but he was spirit enough for the same commands to take effect.

He was quite upset when I managed to explain all this to him, certain that I would abuse the power, but I am not a heartless woman. Out of my own will I promised him that I would never abuse my ability. Unless he try that nonsense again, or hurt the Everfree, I would never prevent him from acting as he wished. So long as his effects were limited to harmless pranks, or he cured them after a short time, he was free to make my cottage sprout wings and fly away!

I think I might have stunned him with that more so than anything else. The idea that someone with the ability to bind him not only didn’t, but actively encouraged the use of his power made him dumb for several minutes. He almost worried me with his incessant question, “Really? Even if…” followed by some example of chaos he could think of, every one more crazy than the last.

I always said yes, or nodded, smiling, him growing more and more overjoyed, particularly when I failed to respond when the teapot whistled, grew frog legs, and jumped free out of the window, a checkered flag waving as it went. As he laughed and laughed without end as my belongings danced around him, I knew right then that the rest of my life would be rather enjoyable.

People would only remind me of my failure. I didn’t want anything that might remind me of all the dead faces that haunted my dreams. I would live in the Everfree and eventually pass on without ever seeing a reminder of my old life. But I wouldn’t be alone.

I had my forest, and now I had Discord, and both of them would be there by my deathbed as I passed. I might even find peace before I was gone.

Then he confused me. He stopped for a moment and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. “Does this mean that we are… friends?” he asked with grave seriousness.

Friends. A word that I had never heard spoken by another. I knew the concept; the heroes in my tales always had their companions and sometimes they were friends. A trifle, I always thought, a worthless thing that only indicated that two people might tolerate each other, or even enjoy one another’s presence.

He used the word as though he had meant husband and wife. Parent and child. Teacher and student, master and disciple, hag and forest, god and worshipper. A relationship that held the greatest strength and respect. Suggesting that friends might be as close as family, or that the concept was sacred and he got me worried over his exact meaning.

“I… suppose?” I said, uncertain exactly what he had meant, but willing to indulge him. He seemed too naive to trick me by bending words.

His eyes glittered with happiness and he scooped me up and held me close. He was warm and softer than my own bed, but I was a hag; some dignity was necessary. Besides, he was hurting my back.

“Put me down you big oaf!” I yelled as he gently squeezed me. He was trying not to harm me, but my body found slight pain in standing; his hug put pressure on bits of me that were normally unpressured. “I am an old woman and refuse to be treated like some infant!”

He dropped me with care and I winced as I tried to figure out how to rub my back with hooves. He seemed to sense my pain and used his mismatched hands to push into my back, reliving the pain somewhat and offering a surprising amount of pleasure as he rubbed. Maybe it came with the new body.

“I do apologize,” He said, “but you are not an old nag Hag. Perhaps a visit to the spa would clear up your pains?”

What is a spa? I wondered as I relaxed under his hands. I didn’t know, but I did know that any effort to reduce my pains would end in failure. The reaper watched me closely, sharpening his scythe. Hags could guess at the natural end of a creature’s life, and with my newfound passion, I would be lucky to see the next winter.

“It would not help me Discord. I am old, and my body fails me. A few months and I will be in the next realm.”

“Months!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening, his hands gripping me, “You are so strong though! Vital! You have years left, you must!”

He felt desperate. To him, months were a short time, far too short for him to truly enjoy my unique presence. “Months Discord.” I said, “Maybe I would go for a few years, but I have a duty to fulfill that takes my greatest efforts and drains what little time I have.”

I held up a hoof to stop his comment, “And no, you cannot help me. I would not endanger you, nor could you offer me aid beyond keeping me happy as I fade.”

He took his hands off of my back, and after a long time of not speaking sighed. “I could do something else.” He said. “You have potential, great potential. A little bit of effort and you might become an alicorn, and if not, I might prevent your aging until you reach that achievement.”
His eyes looked into my own, pleading, “I could do it in a moment, and then I won’t have to lose you after so short a time.”

“No Discord.” I told him. “Spirit, fey, man, or god, nothing has the right to subvert nature. You will never be allowed extend my life past its natural end. But you may tell me. What is an alicorn, and how would that change anything?”

“An alicorn, my dear Hag, is an immortal pony. They start as normal ponies, but then ascend for some great act or another.” He illustrated using tiny illusions, ponies glowing with light and gaining wings and a horn.

Seeing my hesitation he added, “It’s even perfectly natural. I myself saw the ascension of three alicorns, not one of which used an outside power to gain their immortality.”

I wondered why he was mentioning ponies. I was currently a horse, and small enough to be a pony, but I was unique, right? There weren’t other things like myself out there, right? Maybe it was just his way of being strange even in his words I told myself. I was sure that I was alone in this form. There weren’t intelligent ponies running about, human minds in an animal’s body. I was sure of it.

“Really…” I said, pondering on it. A natural born mortal gaining immortality through some great effort. Seemed like a flimsy way to motivate people; a simple way to get mortal beings to push themselves to their very limit. After all, immortality lay just beyond some feat of great strength!

I would have dismissed it, but Discord had no reason to lie to me. “What kind of ‘great effort’?” I asked him.

“I’m… not actually sure.” He admitted, rubbing his head. “The first two raised the sun and moon and the third… I don’t know what caused her to ascend.”

“But certainly you can if she could!” he said, eyes widening, “You even told me you had a duty, could you tell me what that is? I promise that I won’t help you at all unless you ask me to.”

“Very well.” I said, deciding to humor him. If he was wrong nothing changes, if he was right… a thought for another time. “Follow me, but do not touch. What I am dealing with might harm you, badly.”

So I led him through the woods to the crystal tree. He stopped dead at the entrance of the cave, mouth dropping open, limbs splayed out, tail held rigid behind him. I couldn’t read his eyes, and failed to hear when he suddenly began muttering, relaxing his stance and running over his mouth with his paw as he grew thoughtful.

“You have been doing this?” he asked, utter disbelief in his voice.

I looked at my handiwork and smiled slightly. Two branches were grey and dull now, bits of them breaking off. The other three shone brighter than ever, lighting the cave with a glaring white light, but two parts were dead and weren’t coming back.

“Yep. This horrible thing thinks it can control everything, can you believe it?” I failed to see Discord’s shifting expression; he had an idea and was loving it.

“Cursed thing even crippled the Everfree! I already freed some of its prisoners, you even met one of them, the cold horse. It takes everything I have, but I will not have it sit atop the natural order as though it can decide what’s right and what’s wrong!”

“Spirit, fey, man, or god, nothing has the right to subvert nature! I am going to break every last bit of it until it gives in, and then maybe I won’t kill it. Unless it decides to give up!” The last was mostly directed to the tree.

I turned and saw Discord. His smile was huge and his hands rubbed together as his tail whipped about. “Discord?” I called, walking up to him. He didn’t respond, so I caught his tail in my mouth.

He looked down at me and I spat out the tuft of white fur on the end of his tail. “Discord? What’s the matter?” I asked him.

He smiled at me like a wolf spotting a limping sheep. “Absolutely nothing. You really do have potential.”

With that he vanished without a trace, leaving me behind. I watched the spot he had been for a moment before shrugging and heading back. I was too tired to break the tree’s hold and would be hungry soon. So I went off to find my lunch, resolving to try to catch a fish; I wanted to use my teeth!

Breaking Harmony 4

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It was three days since Discord’s visit and my fish experiment had gone… oddly. Some talking sea serpent with purple scales and red hair (a full head of hair and mustache. Very strange) lived in the river and had proven most aggravating. Never met such a conceited beast in all my days, even if it did give me a fish when asked.

The fish had proven to be difficult to clean, and a struggle to eat. Didn’t taste good either. It seemed this body was strictly meant for plants only, but at least I hadn’t been in agony from daring to eat it.

The next day, I had been collecting herbs in the woods to replenish my own stocks when I heard barking and howling and screaming. The screams of children.

I dropped everything and ran through the woods as fast as I could, uncaring of the plants that whipped at me as I ran. I burst into a clearing filled with wooden wolves.

They were the same size as a normal wolf, around my new height. Bark and wood made up their forms, plants growing on them and glowing green eyes on their faces. Even their teeth were no more than sharp points of wood, and they growled at me. Geistermen. The Everfree had geistermen living in it and the stupid forest had never realized it.

I screamed “Heel!” Anyone else would have been savaged, but I was a hag. I held authority over these beasts, unthinking creatures that only existed because of the woods.

They cowered at me, the Everfree reinforcing my authority over them. “Go!” I yelled. They scattered and I finally saw their victims.

Three tiny ponies, about a quarter of my own size laid against a tree. One was yellow with a red mane and tail with a torn red bow in her hair. One was orange with a purple mane and tail, two tiny wings protruding from its back, feathered and the same color as its coat. The last was white with purple and pink running through its mane and tail with a simple spiral horn rising from its forehead. They were badly hurt and I hurried to them.

Two of them barely breathed, very badly hurt by the geistermen. The third, the yellow one, was better, but not by much, and looked up at me with weak eyes. I saw the soul reflected in those oversized orbs. I noticed that they looked like myself, at least somewhat, but far smaller. They were children.

I made a soothing noise as I picked each up in turn, humming a few lullabies. I continued to hum as I carefully transported them back, feeling their blood staining my coat and their heartbeats growing weaker with every moment.

With the greatest haste I could manage without harming them farther I returned to my cottage, my own heart beating hard. I had already lost so much, I… I don’t think I could have withstood another loss, even if I didn’t even know who or what they were. They were children, and that is all that mattered.

I laid them upon my bed and called the forest. I needed its help, its life, and now. I could feel its desire to just grant me the power needed, but it was bound to require payment. It returned with the cost and I hesitated. It was high, perhaps more than I would be willing to pay despite its rather odd nature. A life for a life or something dear was the normal exchange. That price wanted me to… not do something.
Until all three were fully healed I was not to go near the crystal tree or interfere in its effects.

I was saving that place! I had to keep up my effort! Without my protection the Everfree would return to that broken helpless forest I had found myself in originally! The tree might even regain its lost strength and I would need to start again! I didn’t even know that these creatures had been the ones screaming! Perhaps human children had been screaming and I missed them, and I was taking care of animals by mistake?!

My mind raced with reasons to not accept before I slapped myself (hooves hurt far more than hands I found out). They were children! I saw the light of a soul in all three and no animal had a soul. And I was debating letting them die because I didn’t want to stop fighting. I felt like a foolish idiot.

I accepted the cost, the power filling me before going to them.

If one looked closely a green mist settled over the three. Their injuries lessoned under its administrations and their strength increased so that I might remedy their injuries without them dying during recovery. Their wounds shut and they stopped bleeding, but they were still very hurt. Just not hurt enough to die on me.

By now all three were asleep, a minor blessing as I cleaned their wounds and dressed them. I produced a simple poultice from what I had, using up my stock of healing plants, eventually covering every injury to prevent disease. The orange one had a broken wing, the left one, and the yellow had two broken legs, left front and right back. I set them, asking the forest for as much knowledge as it had and praying that I didn’t cripple them with my ignorance (I had seen a horse once before, and at a distance. I had no idea what they were supposed to be like normally).

With that taken care of I moved to my table. I suspected that I had discovered some spinach in the woods and the fillies would need a healthy meal to speed their recovery. I gathered my ingredients and set a pot of water over my warmer, (a tiny metal pot with a flame within, like a tiny oven) and dropped the leaves within. Then I watched and waited.

The plant hadn’t been spinach; the water turned purple and the leaves burned up. It did make an oddly delightful tea though. At the first groan I jumped up and hurried to the bedside.

The yellow one was trying to stir awake. I had taken the foresight to try to prevent movement on their part, lest they reopen their injuries. It was obviously in pain; I would need to get something for that.

“Hush now.” I said in my best calming voice, “Everything is fine, just stop moving.” I gently laid a hoof on her side and tried to hold her still.

“Ho… who… there.” She, I realized by the voice, murmured weakly as she clenched her eyes shut in pain. “Sis..? It hurts…”

They could talk. That was… lots of things really, but I had seen and heard of odder things and besides; I was a colorful pony and I could speak. Really, it only made them more human in my eyes.

“I know it hurts child, just hold still.”

I returned to my shelves and looked about. Many of my plants had numbing properties in the correct dosage; otherwise they were just poisonous. I did have some parashroom left; not only would that render her pain free, but it would also hold her still, possibly for several days.

I decided against that and selected the simpler thorn vine, boiled and stored in a chest. Once boiled it lost the ‘horrible bleeding death’ part of its nature and became very effective at preventing pain for some time. It was good for wounds and setting bones, preventing the patient from feeling pain for about a day, and I was very experienced at not over or under using it. Even numbing could be dangerous if I used too much and too little is ineffective, but I had used it often; about one foot of vine would do for them.

Feeding her the nasty thing was another trial. I had to chew it up for her and then spit it into her mouth. The less said about the taste the better and she did not appreciate it either. The taste or my method. I repeated the action with the other two as well; I couldn’t feel my mouth and they were still asleep and would also be in pain, so why not?

“gah ta slee.” I managed with my numbing mouth. Shaking my head I cautiously laid myself next to the bed, ready to respond to any call for aid, or an attempt at movement. The thorn vine’s poison would last all day, and the mouth problems would fade in an hour.

She did not take my advice and stayed up, trying the entire time to speak and only producing gibberish and mumbling. By the time an hour was up I was annoyed and upset; the little thing didn’t seem to know the meaning of ‘keep still’, especially now that it wasn’t in pain.

“Cut it out you little wriggleworm! I’m trying to rest and you’re up there mumbling and twitching when you should be sleeping!”

“I can’t!” She yelled with a slight accent. I just figured that the numbness lasted longer with her than me, “I’ve gotta see if th others are O.K!”

I had placed her at the end, and she did face away from the other two. I sighed. I should have anticipated that.

“Fine. Hold yourself stiff and take a breath.” I instructed. She did so then with one quick movement I flipped her over. She calmed upon seeing the other two, but grew concerned at their sight.

“Sweetie! Scootaloo! Are ya’ll all right!?”

The other two twitched and murmured as they woke. I felt like screaming as they also began moving.

“Applebloom…?” the white one murmured, either ‘Sweetie’ or ‘Scootaloo’, I wasn’t sure.

“Where are we?” asked the orange one, a rough voice convincing me that this one was male. Again, only saw a horse once. There are stories of course, but no bard goes into great detail about the hero’s mount.

“I dunno,” Applebloom, the yellow one was Applebloom, said, “but this nice person’s helpin us.”

“Hi!” chirped the white one upon seeing me.

“I should have gotten the parashroom.” I muttered looking at the three squirming bodies. They could only barely move and they were doing their best to make sure that their injures burst open again.

“Hold still!” I shouted at them, getting them to cease. “You are all very hurt and need to hold still!”

“But I don’t even feel as bad as I do when I fall off my scooter.” Remarked the male.

“What did happen anyway?” asked the white one, “Why do we look like mummies?”

I growled slightly. “You all got savaged by geistermen and I only barely prevented them from making a meal of you three. Why were you all wandering in the woods anyway? Don’t your mothers tell you the tales? Or are you looking for your deaths?”

I knew I had made a mistake instantly. The white one stiffened and teared up at the mention of her near death. The other two twitched at the mention, but both began gently crying at the mention of mothers. Apparently at least two of them were orphans of some kind.

“Spirits curse it…” I said, felling guilty. I don’t like making children cry.

“Come on now,” I began in a soothing tone, “You are alive, getting better, and I can tell you the tales if you want.”

They did perk up a bit, but not by much. “But first, tell me about yourselves, I want to know more about the…” I tried to think of something to cheer them, “brave explorers of the Everfree.” I hazarded.

That got them happy again. Seemed like they liked that idea.

I soon learned about them. Sweetie Belle was the white horned pony who lived with her sister, a ‘fashionista’ (whatever that is), in a place called Ponyville which was just outside the Everfree. Applebloom, the yellow pony, worked on a farm (some kind of massive garden I thought at the time) with her sister Applejack, her brother Big Macintosh, and her granny, Granny Smith. No mention of her parents.

Scootaloo was as forthcoming as the fey with their secrets. She (they told me, got a cheap giggle at my and her expense) lived in the town, enjoyed riding her scooter with ‘awesome tricks’, admired someone called Rainbow Dash, and was friends with the previous two. Absolutely no mention of family of any kind.

All three were a part of their own self-created group, ‘the cutie mark crusaders’ or ‘CMC’. Which spiraled into them telling me the tales of their attempts to get cutie marks without ever telling me what in creation was a cutie mark. They had… many adventures in their short lives. Honestly, I was somewhat surprised that any of them were still alive with a few of those tales.

“Yours is a bit weird though.” Remarked Scootaloo, earning her a glare.

“What’s a bit weird?” I asked her.

“Your cutie mark.” Applebloom said.

I hesitated. “What’s a cutie mark?” I asked them, trying and failing to figure it out on my own.

All three fell silent and looked at me like I was mad. We must have stared at each other for several minutes. At last Sweetie Belle spoke up again, “The mark on your… flank miss… nice person.”

“You can call me grandmother. Or Hag, doesn’t matter which.” I told her as I swiveled my head to look at my tattoo. The colors were nice, and the design was odd, but I didn’t really care. It was no scar at least.

“See?” asked Applebloom, “What does that mark mean?”

“Mean?” I blinked, “It doesn’t mean anything. The thing is a brand I got from… doing my job.” They didn’t need to know about my fight with the crystal tree.

That confused them which confused me more. “But what job do you do?” Sweetie Belle asked me, head turning slightly.

That was a good sensible question. Especially when considering their… varied… tales of adventure, and one I had heard before from many others.

I chuckled, “I’m a hag girls. And a hag is an old woman who lives in the woods and helps people.”

“Like Miss Zecora!” Applebloom said.

“She never told us she was a hag.” Scootaloo remarked.

“We never did ask her though…” Sweetie said.

Zecora was on odd name, but not any stranger than Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo or Applebloom or Rainbow Dash or any other one the girls had brought up. They were all very strange to my ear and I wondered what culture would cause names like that. Spirits, Scootaloo sounded like childish gibberish to me.

I had the feeling I could use that bit of information about Zecora later and stowed it away.

“That’s enough children.” I said, “Now rest. You need to recover and I need to find dinner. Stay in bed, especially you Applebloom. You can’t feel it now, but two of your legs are broken; move wrong and you may never walk again.” She seemed very concerned at that.

At least Applebloom was still in bed when I returned. The other two were sprawled out on the floor, the thorn vine wearing off early and leaving them in too much pain to move. I sighed and scooped them up before depositing them back in bed. Activity would have lessened the length of time that the vine would numb them. I should have known that they would do that considering their personalities and the stories they told.

“Hi Miss Hag!” called Applebloom as I trotted over with her friends, “Do yah got any food, cause I’m starvin!” I noticed that she was holding very still. I wondered if I had overly scared her with my comment about never walking again.

“I’m too hurt to eat…” Sweetie mumbled.

“I’d like some orange juice please.” Scootaloo said.

All three thought I was an inn apparently. And what was orange juice?

“You are all getting the same thing: these herbs I dug up.” I produced the plant, roots and all. “Healthy for injured children.”

All three eyed it with distaste. “Miss Hag?” asked Applebloom.

“If you are going to ask if you can skip it, the answer is no.”

“Why do yah keep saying things like ‘children’ or ‘people’? We’re fillies an ponies, not children an people.”

A cultural thing I figured. Their names were rather strange and they were ponies which would make their words more normal than my own… The other two seemed deep in thought at her remark, implying that my own words were uncommon or unheard of here. A simple thing to remedy at least. They would be with me for some time and I did need to make them feel at home.

I realized that I was planning for them to stay, when before I was planning to move them away as soon as possible. I worried for a moment, unsure why I was feeling like that, but calmed soon. I liked having them, and I liked taking care of them. I feared what might come of it, but I felt fulfilled caring for them. So I decided I would keep them, at least until they healed.

“Just the way people, ponies talk where I’m from. I can get the hang of it in a few days if you’d like, make this place a little more like home for the three of you.”

Scootaloo nodded happily, but the other’s eyes widened hugely. “Home!” they both cried before descending into yelling over each other and writhing to get off of the bed. They were going to break open every new scar and Applebloom was going cripple herself with that behavior.

They weren’t any calmer when I tied them to the bed to prevent them from moving. They were going to kill themselves acting like that. “Calm down!” I yelled, getting them to stop shouting as I began knotting the rope, “You!” I pointed at Applebloom, “Tell me!”

She took a deep breath. “I’ve gotta get back to th farm afore Applejack an Macintosh an Granny get worried about me!”

I turned to indicate Sweetie Belle, finishing their bindings. “I need to get back to tell Rarity, that’s my big sister I told you about, and tell her that I’m all right! She must be really upset by now!”

Scootaloo seemed nervous for some reason as I looked at her. “Well?” I asked.

“It doesn’t matter! My family isn’t worried!” she said rather… quickly. The other two seemed not to notice her slight fear or the oddity of her words, but I did.

Either she lived with parents that didn’t care for her, or she lived alone. I didn’t press her on the issue; she seemed ashamed of what she was hiding and I wouldn’t embarrass her in front of her friends.

Turning back to the plant I began preparing it for dinner (rip leaves off and cut roots off, then boil everything into stew). “I will go and tell your families about you. None of you are in any condition to travel. I’ll leave in the morning, so I want you to get your minds together and tell me what you want me to tell them. Make sure to tell me where they are too, might not be able to find someone…”

“Somepony miss Hag.” Sweetie helpfully told me.

“Somepony based on familial ties.” I continued, giving her a smile, “But you all are eating this plant before I go to bed, even if I have to shove it down your little throats.”

They managed to give me an accurate account of where I had to go, who I had to talk to, and what I should say. For children… fillies, they rather bravely ate the weed I had gathered. I tried a bit; it was bitter and disgusting such that I wouldn’t eat it if given the choice.

For now, my bed was taken by them, so I settled on the floor, preparing for aches in the morning. It was late at night, and I was exhausted. Fortunately, they got the hint, and accepted going to sleep with me.

“Good night Miss hag.” They chorused.

“Spirits keep you and the fey hate you.” I muttered unthinkingly.

“What does that mean?”

“Go to sleep, it means nothing.”

“But what’s a spirit?”

“Or a fey?”

“It’s late, go to sleep.”

“But.”

“Sleep!”

I was up as the sun rose. The first time I had done so, since I preferred to sleep in. The sun practically jumped into the sky. It went from horizon to sky in moments, and I could track its motion. That was less than calming and I retreated back to my hut, fearful of the strange sight. A lot had told me I was far from my normal home, but seeing that… I knew that I was somewhere else.

The girls were still asleep as I ate breakfast. A good thing, they needed sleep to recover. I draped a blanket over them, made sure that their bindings were tight enough to prevent escape and movement, but not tight enough to cause injury and headed out.

I collected some of my herbs and flowers on my way, dropping them into the sack draped on my back. Always a good idea to bring gifts to new places or people or ponies after all.

It took me a few hours to get to the edge of the woods and I was disheartened at the sight. Without my protection the Everfree was returning to its former state rather quickly. The new growth was weak and scrawny compared to the woods just past it. I bid it farewell and cringed at the slightly choked reply; it could feel the changes being inflicted upon it and was terrified. I couldn’t help it despite my desire to save it once again; I would break the deal and the girls would pay the price.

Ponyville rose before me, the bright colors and thatched roofs unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. An odd place to be sure. Colorful ponies flocked in the streets, not a one looking like a warrior, and not one of them looking like they could handle a fight. Large open spaces, goods in the open with a population mostly made of females…

I wondered how it hadn’t been raided to the ground already as I made my way to the… what was it? Big round building… thing Sweetie had told me about. The Carousel Boutique! That was it, Sweetie’s sister lived in a shop of some kind called the Carousel Boutique. Like I was saying, in my land Ponyville wouldn’t last two days before other, stronger towns would take everything.

The town was filled with oddities. I stopped before a giant gingerbread house and stared. For a moment I thought fairies made their home in the town, but dismissed my fears. Fairies are tiny, and the structure was large enough for the ponies to be inside it. A bright pink mare with a mass of pinker hair for a mane saw me from inside it, but didn’t approach beyond waving at me. She seemed a bit sad.

A different crystal tree rose before me as I continued, angular in its branches, and purple in color. I stopped to regard it. It had a touch of the same essence as the tree in the Everfree. I wondered if the pair were related.

This one lacked the strange power, but they were very similar outside of the purple version being much bigger and having a door built into it. Windows and a balcony were present as well, suggesting something lived in it. I stared for a while before moving on.

I found the building Sweetie had described fairly easily. It stood alone and was quite… eye catching to say the least. It was round and rose to a point like a large tent. It was many shades of blue and white and purple, a bell hanging over the front door.

I headed to the door and noticed a note pinned to it. It had an elegant flowing script that my eyes couldn’t make out easily.

“Closed… personal reasons… see Twilight Sparkle for information.” I read, squinting to make out the curly words. It did not say where I might find whoever Sparkle was. The girls had mentioned a Twilight in their tales, so I thought that maybe the two might be the same pony. If I couldn’t find her, I could ask the girls for directions.

“Hi there!” came an exited happy voice from behind me.

I turned and saw the same pink mare I had seen earlier. Both her mane and tail were curled and despite the chaotic nature were not masses of tangles. She smiled and seemed excited, but there was a strain to her that I could see.

“Are you new to Ponyville? My name’s Pinkie, Pinkie Pie! It’s great to meet you!”

I grew concerned. She was rather obviously pretending at happiness and I worried for her if she felt that pressured to appear happy. And for myself, in case that she was hiding a sinister side and that was why she was tense.

“Thank you Miss Pie, but I have no need of a welcome.”

“Oh…” she said, deflating.

“But you can tell me where I can find a Twilight Sparkle? I need to speak with her.”

She perked up and gave me an actual smile that was far smaller than before. “Twilight lives in the giant castle, see it over there?” she pointed at the crystal tree in the town.

“Thank you.” I said, moving toward it. I stopped for a moment, sighed and walked back.

“Do try to feel better. Sadness does not suit you.”

She gasped, surprised I had noticed. Then she looked down at her hooves before looking up again and she smiled at me, “Thank you. I needed that.”

“Just doing what’s right.” I said. I patted her on the shoulder, “There is always something to be happy about. Find something that makes you happy.”

“I will! And when I find it, I’ll find you and give you the greatest party you ever had!” She headed off, determination in her eyes. “Thank you again!” she called as she left.

I smiled. It really wasn’t so bad to be near people again. Even if they were ponies instead of humans.

I headed back and knocked on the door to the odd tree. A small drake opened it, with purple scales and green spines, standing on his hind legs. It was somewhat plump, fat little tail balancing it, large green snake-like eyes looking at me. Tiny claws were on its hands and feet, its tail ended in a flat triangle, and its spines and tail point were soft and rounded.

“Not accepting visitors right now.” he said to my dumbfounded face. “Um… are you O.K?”

“I was looking for a Rarity?” I said in a dreamy tone, forgetting why I was there for a moment. A hatchling! A real dragon hatchling! Right there less than a day’s walk from my home! The things I could accomplish with his scales, his spines, his blood, his bones… the possibilities were endless! Flesh for potions to make a man able to uproot a tree with his bare hands! Blood and bone to make salves to cure even the greatest burn! Bits of him were worth an entire town if I couldn’t find a use for them elsewhere!

Still, he was a hatchling, worth little as compared to how big he would be in a few years, and somepony else had to own the little guy. Somepony taught it to speak and answer the door; that was not normal dragon behavior. I wondered if I might be able to convince them to part with him. After I finished my tasks of course. I wasn’t about to forget my promises.

“About Sweetie Belle?” I finished in a far more normal tone.

“Oh! Right this way!” he said, holding the door for me. He lead me through a vastly oversized interior before opening the door to a room with the lower-half of a tree lit with wisps of color hanging above a round table. The roots of a tree to be specific, one that had been very big and very old. Seven thrones were around the table, each one white marble and bearing a design on their backs.

There was a white horned pony with a purple mane in the room, though she didn’t fully match the picture Sweetie had supplied. She had told me her sister was elegant, with her purple mane and tail curled and her white coat kept in peak condition. This pony had gone on a hike, fallen down a cliff into the bushes and mud and failed to clean herself after returning. There was even a stick in her hair. The colors matched even if the appearance didn’t, as did the cutie mark: three diamonds.

“Rarity?” I asked hesitantly, not sure that I had gotten the right pony, “I have a message from Sweetie Belle?”

It was as though she transformed before my very eyes. Her head snapped up, her mane frizzed, the stick thrown some distance as it did so, and her eyes widened in… hope? Desperation? I’m not sure and she put her face far too close to mine in an instant.

“You found her!? Is she safe? Where is she? Oh! I’ve been so worried!”

At least she calmed as she spoke, gaining far more self-control until she seemed a more normal sort.

“Yes… could you move back please? I like my space.”

“Oh! I am terribly sorry dear, but please, you must tell me!”

Once she was sufficiently away I took a breath. “She sends her apologies that she cannot be here and asks that you don’t worry about her. She has been hurt by the beasts of the Everfree, but she is recovering at Zecora’s home. She cannot be moved now, but she will be able to be moved in a day or two.”

My lie sailed right past her. I had always had a talent for lying (helped me to spot other liars), and she hadn’t been looking for dishonesty. The tension flowed out from her and she sat down, sighing in relief.

“Thank Celestia. And thank you Miss?”

I almost told her my name, but stopped myself. Discord might learn of it, and that might be bad. Best to keep up the new name I decided. “Hag.”

“Miss… Hag…” She seemed to not like my chosen name. “Have you heard of the others? Applebloom and Scootaloo? Little fillies about this tall, a yellow earth pony and an orange pegasus, Applebloom has a red bow in her mane?”

Surprising. She was concerned over other people’s families? I had expected her to go off to wherever Zecora’s place was without a second thought. As I wondered at this two other ponies entered, one purple the other orange.

The purple one had a dark blue mane and tail, purple and pink streaks running through both. She had two wings and a spiral horn, a pink star for a cutie mark, surrounded by five white points. The orange one looked like myself, lacking extra features. She had a blond mane and tail, her mane kept in a ponytail with red bands, and a strange hat sat on her head. She didn’t seem to have gotten much sleep recently.

The orange one must be Applejack, Applebloom’s older sister, I decided. The hat tipped me off. A ‘Stetson’ as Applebloom had called it. At their entry Rarity perked up and waved to them.

“Girls! Over here! Miss… this wonderful mare knows where the girls are!”

Yep, she really didn’t like my chosen name.

“Yah know where my little sis is?!” cried Applejack, her voice telling me Applebloom hadn’t had an allergic reaction to the thorn vine as I had suspected; Applejack sounded just as odd. “Can ya tell us where?”

I nodded. “All three of those fillies were injured in the Everfree and are being watched over by Zecora. They are hurt, but recovering nicely. Applebloom tells you not to worry about her, she’s fine. They are recovering from being mauled by wooden wolves very nicely and a few weeks and Applebloom might even walk again!” I said cheerfully, smiling.

In my land, such injuries would suggest the child was god-touched if they wandered the woods unattended. A child in the woods was far more likely to become a meal for some beast, be taken by the fairies, or come back lacking limbs if they did come back. The fillies had been badly hurt, but had gotten off very lightly in my opinion.

Applejack’s face turned ashen at my words, as though I had told her Applebloom had died. The other two weren’t faring much better either and I looked about, confused.

“Is… is something wrong with that? Would it be better if she didn’t?” I asked, looking between them in turn.

“No, no it’s all fine really.” lied the purple one, waving her foreleg and failing to meet my gaze at all. She was really bad at deception. “It’s just that they are a bit more hurt than normal. We hadn’t expected something like a broken leg.”

What exactly is wrong with these ponies? I thought. A broken leg amongst creatures with four of them was a rare injury? The lifestyle those fillies had led made broken legs the worst thing to ever happen to them? It was slightly shocking to hear that from her.

“Then I’ll be off.” I said, “I have my own business to attend to…”

The purple mare nodded as I walked past her, “Thank you so much for your help! I’m Twilight, this is Applejack, and that is Rarity, who you seem to have met already. I am sure that we’ll see each other again miss…”

Not if I could help it they wouldn’t. “Hag.” I called over my shoulder to see Rarity wince, Twilight hesitate and Applejack look up with a questioning eyebrow. I was wondering if hag was some kind of insult. It would explain the odd looks I kept getting.

Whatever the case I hurried back to the Everfree. My lie might not last too long.

So why did I tell them that the fillies were at Zecora’s place? you might ask.

Many reasons I’d respond.

First, the fillies needed good capable care and I was certain that those ‘never heard of a broken leg’ ponies couldn’t provide better than myself, but that had been determined after I had lied so it wasn’t really a reason.

The second was that I did not want anyone or anything to know where I lived without making absolutely certain that I wanted them to. I wanted to live out the last bit of my life alone and in peace, and being the hero of a tale would only drag many to my doorstep. Many that I might fail to save, like I didn’t save my people before… I wasn’t going to be relied upon only to fail someone, or somepony, ever again.

The third: those fillies were my best source of information of this place. They knew the culture and layout of the area around me while I did not. It would be foolhardy to lose them just yet.

And last is that I may have been thinking of something else at the time. I had failed my own people, slaughtered to the last. Maybe I was trying to atone for my past mistake by helping these three. I might have been seeing and hearing many, far too many, childish faces and voices in them. In saving them, I might have felt like I was saving all the others I had failed to save. Maybe I was lying to myself and that was exactly what I was doing and thinking. Because that’s what I was doing and thinking.

I was in the woods and returning to my cottage when I heard a piercing shriek from nearby. At a guess, that was either Rarity or Applejack discovering my lie. I ignored it and gathered some blueberries that I stumbled upon; the girls would like a treat.

“But why!?” wailed Rarity as she was supported atop Rainbow’s back. She was near inconsolable over my deception.

Not that they had been particularly distrustful of me, but the little note on Zecora’s door on her home in the Everfree declared that she was off visiting family, and would not be back for many weeks. It put severe doubts on the truth of my words to say the least.

The revelation of my deception confused and hurt them, particular Rarity and Applejack, their younger sisters missing. Rainbow Dash, who viewed Scootaloo as her younger sister and the previous two as close friends, even began hating me.

“I don’t know!” yelled Rainbow, “But why didn’t Applejack known that Hag was lying?”

“I were tired an upset an hopin fer good news.” Applejack said, downcast and tired, "An I was more focused on 'Applebloom might walk agin' ta pay much attention ta where she was."

“Everypony is just feeling a little tense, and I am sure that Hag must have had a good reason for this.” Twilight said.

“What reason is there to lie about my beautiful little sister’s fate!” Rarity said. “Who would even do such a thing!? What if she’s hurt, and afraid, and…”

“That’s enough Rares!” Applejack yelled, “My little sis might be hurt real bad and you’re jus..!”

“Girls! Calms down!” Twilight interrupted, interposing herself between the pair. “We will find the girls and they will be alright, alright?” Twilight looked back and forth. There had been an odd tension over the group recently, particularly Pinkie who was far less bouncy than normal. And Rainbow was right, Applejack should have seen right through my lie. They all wondered why she hadn’t.

“And when we find Hag, I’m going to buck her over town hall!”

“She’s an old mare Rainbow.”

“Then I’ll knock her over or something. I HATE when old ponies are mean! You can’t do anything or you’re the bad guy because they’re old!”

Breaking Harmony 5

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Both Sweetie and Scootaloo were capable of movement in two days, like I had said. I untied them from the bed and allowed them to move about. All three looked like they had been mauled by a bear when I changed their bandages, but they were recovering nicely, the skin sealing properly and the scabs forming without difficulty.

Scootaloo’s wing was messed up, but both were messed up. A birth defect of some kind I guess. She would never fly with those stunted things. I had gotten her to behave by promising to do something about that when she was healthier. I tried my best to get them at least somewhat normal, but it is very hard to change what is already healthy. I can't replace limbs, nor would my power allow me to change her wings without some thought and great effort.

Applebloom’s legs seemed to be healing properly. And I had terrified her with my ‘never walk again’ comment. She didn’t want to so much as twitch until I told her that I had been overstating the problem and that she was going to be fine. She would be too, even if I had to make another deal to fix her legs.

All three had been told that their families knew that they were here, and wished them better. The woods were too dangerous for me to carry them home just yet, and they would have to wait until they healed fully, particularly Applebloom. I really couldn’t move Applebloom with her injuries, but the rest was less than honest.

Applebloom was all right. I made sure of it, staving off the boredom of having to lie still on a bed by regaling all three of them with tales from my homelands and my life. Modified of course. Humans and ponies were very different, but they seemed not to care that the heroes could wield weapons and wear armor despite being ponies.

They had all started calling me grandmother after three days. Scootaloo sometimes called me granny. Sometimes it was just like when the children of the town flocked to my hut, eagerly awaiting my next tale. I settled into a lifestyle revolving around taking care of them, both medically and personally as the fall slowly progressed to winter.

After not visiting me for so long Discord came to visit again. The fillies had been terrified of him for some reason so I snapped at him to keep everything mostly normal lest I wallop him with my pan. When he asked me why I didn’t just order him to behave I told him that that would be cruel. He liked that.

It took a while, but they got used to him, my watchful eye discouraging him from scaring their fur off. They called him a ‘Draconequus’, apparently unique. He remarked that he had to go and left soon, though he did make several visits when the trio stayed with me. They even grew… tolerant of his nonsense though I still found him hilarious.

They had nightmares when I had told them the tales of the geistermen so I sang them to sleep one night. They loved it when I managed to cobble together a simple loaf of bread which I filled with berries. They kept telling me the stories of their lives, and sometimes suggested that they would like it if I could be near them always. They always greeted me when I came back, and smiled at me when I was near them.

They brought the light back into my life, the same light that the dark raiders had snuffed out. I was happy for the first time in a long time, happier than I had ever really been, but I was sure that I was forgetting something.

It was as I was boiling some plants for stew that I recalled. Fillies needed to learn, like children did. I spoiled children naturally, but they needed to learn things like cooking, stitching, housework, and survival. I wouldn’t train them to be hags, but an advanced knowledge of the woods would be very helpful to their explorative natures. I began after they had been with me for six days.

First was cooking which Applebloom was mostly unable to do for obvious reasons. Simple task with simple results I thought. Sweetie somehow burned water and Scootaloo was only capable of preparing rations and ruining everything. I had to get the spirits to repair my poor cauldron when she dented it so bad I could have used it as a shield.

With the spirits’ help (and Discord’s) I gathered some silk and created some thread to teach them sewing and knitting. Sweetie was capable of simple designs and a pretty cloth, but anything more complicated would somehow result in her tied up in a ball. Scootaloo need far more patience and lacked the skill to manipulate the needle properly. She kept jabbing herself with it, leading me to craft a protective cover for her hoof.

They could do housework after a fashion. My home was far from a normal house, but they were capable of sweeping the tiny floor rather well. I didn’t allow them near my regents or give them anything else to do; I liked my house in one piece. The simple things like sweeping sometimes had things break and I preferred to try and keep that to a minimum.

They had bought up math and reading, but since when did girls need to learn math? Reading was a pastime that some enjoyed, but not math, and they had been strangely happy, even ecstatic, when I told them that. They also told me that reading apparently included something about writing about the stories after reading them. I told them that they were mistaken and had been completely mystified when they called me the greatest grandmother they could have, particularly Scootaloo.

Survival was their favorite class, despite it being the only one to include actual work and tests. I needed to make sure that they had memorized my lessons, so that they would be safe when they could eventually go into the woods by themselves again. Basic insight into fey, geistermen, and the various plants, good and bad. They were very good at it, and made me proud often.

They were with me for two weeks, until the first snowfall fell on the silent woods. I mourned the Everfree’s loss of ability to appreciate it. It had been such a curious forest before, and now its voice flitted about like an unthinking beast, not caring of anything and not knowing anything.

It was during that day that Applebloom’s casts could be removed and I could begin helping her to regain her leg’s mobility. She recovered like a true champion, soon wobbling around with unbridled joy after only a few hours of pain as her friends cheered her for every wobbling step.

It had been her that had reminded me.

“When can we go home ta see our families?” she had asked me.

I had completely forgotten that they didn’t live with me.

I was saddened greatly, but the trio’s boundless optimism and delight at the anticipation of seeing their families again brightened me up. It wasn’t as though I would never see them again. At least, I hoped that I would see them again, but that fear was simple to resist then.

Of them all, Scootaloo seemed less happy than the others, even sad, pretending happiness, just like Pinkie had. I suspected that she did not have a home to return to ever since the first time she told me of herself, but she was unwilling to admit such to me or anypony else. Not even when I asked in private. The truth was obviously humiliating or horrible to her, and I let her keep that secret for which she was grateful.

In the end, Applebloom on my back, we crunched through the faint layer of snow, heading toward Ponyville after we had eaten lunch. I took the time to quiz them on the woods around us, smiling as they remembered my warnings and tips, not missing anything except how to actually say the names of things.

I took a small detour and came upon a timberwolf as the girls had called them, the same wooden wolves that had hurt them in the first place. They hid behind me trembling as I coaxed it over and got it to roll around like a large puppy.

It took a while. Not everyone can overcome their fear at seeing the beast that nearly slew them, but they managed with my support. They had been fascinated after a time, touching and petting the wooden beast with awe as it laid there unresponsive.

“How’d you do that?” asked Scootaloo as she poked at its unblinking eyes.

“I told you child, I’m a hag. If I cannot control one geistermen then I would not have survived my first winter, nor would I be a hag. Take note of it, this is the most common beast in the Everfree. See here?” I touched the neck, “If you kick here as it lunges, even one of you could snap its neck with ease and the corpse would fall on you, making the others unwilling to get to you.”

“Why?” asked Sweetie, the most skittish of the three near the timberwolf.

“Geistermen cannot abide seeing their dead. They hate seeing reminders of their mortality, and will avoid reminders. Keep this in mind if you ever find yourself attacked by them again. It may save your lives.”

They nodded and we resumed the journey. At the edge of the woods I managed to prevent myself from crying as they bid me farewell, one orange Pegasus awkwardly trying not to appear ‘mushy’.

They ran off as the sun began its descent and I walked back into the woods slowly and sadly. They were nearly recovered and in a few days I could resume breaking the crystal tree. The thought spurred me on, but I was weighed down; those fillies had brought some light into an old woman’s life and it was… difficult to let them go.

Soon they would reunite with their families and learn of my deception. With all my being I hoped that they would forgive me. If not… well, they might not find me again before I breathed my last. Whether that was god or bad, I was unable to decide.

Breaking Harmony End

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The three girls had gone into town in a hurry, then separated, going their separate ways. I am told that the reunions were… emotional. The greatest joy with their loved ones; their girls were back! The girls happy to see them once more as well after their long recovery.

The obvious question was asked of them: where had they been?

At Miss Hag’s home in the Everfree came the innocent response.

They did not have the words to describe the sheer anger that had blossomed on their sisters’ faces upon learning that. Not only had I lied to their families, causing their worry to become worse, but I had lied to the girls. The girls’ families had all spent the time agonizing over their fates after my deception, Rarity and Applejack unable to even work or sleep due to their concerns.

I had kept the fillies from their rightful places, lied in one of the most hurtful manners possible and no end of discussion or persuasion could change their minds. To Applejack and Rarity and particularly Rainbow, I was evil, soon followed by their friends to a lesser degree.

I suspect it was fortunate that the girls could not remember the path back to my home; their sisters might have killed me. I was not free of their wrath yet though. Discord remarked that he knew me, and took great pleasure at drawing out their anger, rubbing at the injury I had produced. Keeping it raw as a minor form of revenge for their hate of me.

He kept the secret for three days, the time when I could finally resume my work, before telling them that I might be found at the crystal tree in the Everfree on a regular basis.

Six ponies departed soon after. Twilight Sparkle, the purple alicorn, Applejack, the orange pony, and Rarity, the white horned pony who had regained her elegance since Sweetie returned to her. Amongst them, Rarity and Applejack thought me evil, Twilight upset at me, but far less than the other two.

Pinkie Pie followed them, one of the two ponies that wondered why I had lied instead of condemning me for doing so. Fluttershy, a yellow winged pony with a pink mane and tail, was the other, but her hesitation stemmed from a love of all life instead of any of my actions. Rainbow Dash brought up the rear. She is a bright blue winged pony, with a mane and tail the colors of a rainbow. Her hate was strong, born from a strong love of her friends, and a burning desire to hurt any who might hurt them. Which I had.

When they came upon the chasm they stopped, hearing my echoing screams. They forgot what they had come for and rushed in like the heroes they are, and stopped dead at the sight. I was at the tree once more, tugging at the tiara in the center.

They tell me it was as though my skin was burning away only to be replaced with each passing second. Gouges tore open in my flesh only to close shut just as fast. I was actually on fire, but I had focused my mind to my job, reducing the pain I felt. I still screamed in agony. I would have been dead in an instant without the Everfree’s boundless assistance, and I suffered badly even then.

They jumped at the snap, Twilight unable to think as I fell to the floor with a thump, going from nearly dead to fully restored, at least physically, in an instant, making the watchers assume that they had hallucinated the sight. The tree gave a great groan and seemed to slump, losing most of its glow as the tiara’s parts landed next to me and the gem dust coloring the floor.

A gargled noise came from Twilight at the sight of the broken tiara, the shattered gem, and the darkening tree, her eyes betraying her feelings. She was caught in turmoil, nearly unable to comprehend the sight.

I stumbled upright, having suffered more than before. Every branch had been worse than the last, stronger and harder and more painful. After leaving it for so long, I had decided to try and get the rest in one fell swoop. Mind, soul, and body all suffered from torment fit for the underworld. I didn’t even notice my stunned watchers as I dropped the pieces of the broken tiara into their place in my drawing, the bearers only now noticing my scuffs and seeing the other broken elements.

Twilight saw them and a cold truth settled in her mind. She had discovered the cause of Applejack’s inability to spot a lie and Pinkie’s unexplained anxiety. With the breaking of the elements, I had broken them a little, reduced their abilities to be themselves, and Twilight now knew who had done it. The same pony who had lied to them about the girls. The same pony standing before them, squinting to get the colorful blurs to come into focus.

“Who’s there?” I groggily called out. I was weakened badly, and though I was standing and moving and seeing, it was because of the forest, and not my own power.

Twilight and the others didn’t even respond past Rainbow growing at me like a dog. I blinked, sensing the magical buildup as they all prepared to attack me.

I wasn’t sure what was there, or how many there were, but I knew it didn't like me. Weak as I was, I prepared to defend myself.

They got me fairly quickly. I was groggy and weakened from my battle with the tree and kept failing to see them as they attacked. I had the forest with me, and my skin was like stone and my head and hooves swung like hammers, but I needed vitality to keep myself moving, lessening my abilities by a good bit. I was weak yes, but they are very good. Even at my best they might have gotten me. I was a little groggier than before too; being bucked in the head could do that to a woman.

It was a little odd too. The first spirit couldn't help, and the second was thrown away as if it was nothing. I couldn't tell why they were so weak against them then, and didn't really notice that until later on.

“What are we going to do Twi?” asked Rainbow, looking back to me, floating behind them in a magical bubble, every now and then and rubbing at her side. I had rammed her and there was going to be a bruise. Applejack already had a black eye from my hooves as well, the only injuries I had inflicted on them physically.

“Were are going to take her to Princess Celestia, as well as the elements. I’m sure that she knows what to do.” Twilight said, rather breathlessly.

So we went, me unable to appreciate the trip until the castle itself. I wondered where we were and why I was being carried until I heard Twilight again.

“This is her.” she said simply, and dropped me like a rock. I didn't even feel it.

A white hoof stepped into my vision, capped with a golden shoe.

I giggled. The power over me was great, and I was prone to nervous giggles. Whatever was over me outshined me like the sun outshines a candle. As if I was standing before a dragon, but one that was more magical than anything I had ever felt before.

“What I don’t understand is why Discord hadn’t told us earlier? How long had he known about Hag?” Twilight asked.

“I shall speak to him Twilight, you have my word.” responded the white one. Her voice was rather soothing considering, but I wasn’t about to let her do something to Discord.

“Leave him alone.” I said, my voice rough and weak, “He knew me for a few days and did not know what I was doing.”

“And what were you doing?” asked the white one above me.

“Saving the forest.”

I got a sigh in response. She didn’t believe me it seemed. No matter really.

I was soon deposited in a small stone cell somewhere underground, iron bars in the walls and two guards watching over me as I laid on a small cot. They weren’t fit to guard a pumpkin, but I was unable to call for aid or move very much. No forest or spirit was nearby leaving me just to my own body. The same body that left me near immobile from weakness.

I would be dead within a few days. The tree had struck back far worse than I had anticipated and the fight had worsened my injuries. The Everfree couldn’t aid me like it had before; normally it took several days of its assistance before I could fully recover. Now, without it, my life was flickering like a burnt out candle.

I told my reasoning about the crystal tree to Celestia, the white horse from before, Twilight next to her jotting down notes. Celestia was huge, standing over twice the height of myself, spiral horn and graceful wings on a near perfect form. She had a sun as a cutie mark and always seemed calm, even though she was unable to not grimace whenever I brought up the broken necklaces. Her power shone, and I could never stand to look at her for long, both from the slight pain of looking at a bright light and from the fear of what she was capable of.

You might have thought I had been speaking of genocide and madness with their expressions. Both had been greatly unsettled by my actions, particularly over the broken necklaces, or the elements as they called them, and as I spoke Twilight would often make some outburst or another, oftentimes forgetting to continue her notes in her anger.

Apparently, even the aged Celestia didn’t know how to repair the elements and Twilight was hard at work researching how to fix them. They thought I might have a clue since I was able to break them. I suggested a jeweler, which irritated Twilight to no end. The elements are apparently great artifacts, and no simple pony could just mend them.

By the next day (I guessed, no natural light in a cavern) I was fading. My job was unfinished and I was dying in a miserable piece of rock far from my forest, without a single being to care for my passing. A single tear dropped from my eye, quickly swiped away by a familiar paw.
I weakly looked up and saw Discord hovering over me. The guards seemed not to notice his presence.

“You’re dying.” He said. He was upset though he tried to hide it.

“I know.” I rasped back to him, struggling to hold my head up to look at him. “Can you stay with me? I don’t wish to die alone in some cavern…”

“I don’t wish for you to die at all.” He frowned as he regarded his claws. “And yet I find myself unable to manipulate you like I can other ponies.”

He was hurting, I could tell. I even knew why he couldn’t: he didn’t know my name or circumstance.

“I know why.” I said, ghost of a smile on my lips.

“Then tell me! I… You can be saved yet! I can bring you back to the Everfree before you pass!”

“Not until you tell me.” I looked up into his desperate eyes. “I need to tell you how to save me, and you need to tell me: why have they imprisoned me? Quickly now, I am dying.”

So he did. The tree of harmony, the single greatest defender of the land of Equestria had been the crystal tree. I had been killing what had kept ponies safe for millennia. He told me everything he could, the knowledge of his age coming to me. Horned ponies were unicorns, winged ones were Pegasi, winged and horned ones were alicorns and ones without any extra features were earth ponies. As much about Equestria that was important for me to know, or what Discord thought was important for me to know.

He told me that Celestia thought me a monster, being able to break what nothing had been able to scratch before. The elements had been used by their bearers, the current ones the six ponies that had captured me in the first place, to keep Equestria safe from many threats, most of which had been fully capable of ending ponykind altogether. Discord himself had been their target twice.

I was stunned at my blindness. I had judged in haste and had done more harm than anything I had done before, possibly dooming countless ponies because I had broken their protection. I had doubted the crystal tree’s capability as anything but a problem. But with Discord’s words, I could see. The wilds of Equestria didn’t need a guardian. The inhabitants needed a guardian from the wilds.

“I was blind. I have done so much, seen so much, and I did… all that.” I murmured.

“Yes, yes, but now tell me how to help you!” He was begging me.

So I did. I told him of hags, the connection they were between spirit and mortal and what that meant for him. I told him that he couldn’t manipulate me with his power because my fate was held by Uwe, the great spirit of beyond. So long as Uwe held my fate, no other spirit could hold power over me. At the last he needed my name, and I would not give it to him until he had regained my fate.

I then told him how to find Uwe.

He was gone in an instant. I wished him luck and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Twilight came every now and then to study me, uncaring and silent. Sometimes she would ask me a question about my health or diet and I would answer, gaining a huff or a hum in return. She was finding it hard to believe that I was that weak, and trying to find how I had done the impossible. Not that I either knew or know. I still do not know how I broke the elements, not even now.

Another day and I found it difficult to eat or drink. Twilight and the guards found this suspicious, suspecting I was plotting something. Twilight constructed some magical way to get me food and water without my having to chew or swallow. It helped.

Another day and I was unable to even move on my own, but I tried to endure, waiting for Discord’s return. I was growing weaker and weaker with each hour and upsetting ponies. I was tricking them, they were sure of it.

The next day, I was dying. My end was only a few hours away and Discord had not returned. I doubted that he would, at least in time. I felt cold and numb, my heart slowly beating in my chest and growing slower. A cold began filling me, though I did my best to ignore it.

As the time ticked closer my mind drifted back to my past, recalling my life. I remembered my birth, my parents and siblings, every one so important in my growth. I remembered my teacher, the same one who taught me the best way to deal with the fey, the lessons that she learned at high price given freely to me. I remembered the shaman I had almost married, but in the end deciding that my duties as a hag overrode the call of my heart. I remembered the many who by experience or example showed me how to navigate life.

I remembered the places I had been, every beast I had seen. The frost dragon that I had healed, the giants that sometimes needed to be repulsed from attacking the village, or the horrors that sometimes invaded my wood. At some time or another I had seen and endured sights that could drive a man to suicide. Sights that would make one of weak will break. Some would fall prone before the greatest beauties of the fey, knowing that they would never see such beauty again. The nightmares that would shatter a weak mind with ease, that things that lurked in the darkness and devoured the soul of any unlucky enough to see them. I had endured them all. I had even beaten some of them.

I remembered every place I had visited, every terrified person that made the journey to my door. A woman wishing a curse of another hag removed from her and her child. A man wanting something more in life. A werewolf searching for the end to his curse. Parents carrying dead or dying children to me, begging that I save them, their family, their village. Some I helped, others I couldn’t. My power is not boundless, and sometimes the price was too much to be accepted. A few times I had even been offered children in exchange for great favors; I had always sent those away.

I remembered when I had settled down in the small valley when my wanderlust faded in my middle age, a few years before people first came there. I remember watching the community build up, a hearty people that could brave both nature and the marauders. I remembered when they first found me; they had given me a great celebration, in the hopes that I might be appeased and not bury them alive in snow. I remembered how they slowly grew used to me, and how I protected them with care.

I remembered the children who came to me over the years. They brought their children, who brought their own, three generations coming to my doorstep to hear of my tales. I grew old happily, caring for them all. They were my people, and I was their hag. I remembered the last day I was there, the joy in my heart at having found an apprentice, my duty coming to its end after so long.

The horror at seeing them all dead that night. Every last life snuffed out by raiders wearing dark iron, the blood staining the snow and casting a shadow over my heart. The darkening of my life as I looked upon the blood and death and saw the dead girl with her siblings. The sickening feeling of seeing the dark magic in that iron and the weapon their leader had pointed at me. The burning desire to see them all suffer for their sins. The want to end them, and then die soon after, to put an end to my suffering.

The strangeness when my spell was struck by their leader’s blade.

My confusion when I had awoken in the Everfree. My discovery of the forest that so desperately needed me, my exploration of the forest and my new form. The discovery of the tree, and my… over quick judgement. The pain that we had inflicted upon each other, and the hate I had felt for it that I was certain it returned. Discord’s antics and jokes, his chaos bringing some joy to my ending life.

The day I discovered the three fillies nearly dead by timberwolves. Tossing my self-appointed duty aside to help them far past what was necessary. The light that they rekindled in me as I helped them to recover. My laughter as they bungled their way through life, seemingly unable to accomplish a simple task without some disaster occurring. The warmth I felt having them with me. My guilt over my deception, both to their families and to them, and the fear that they might hate me for it. My sadness as they returned home, and it was worse than before; I knew I would not see them before I passed.

In a month my life had died with my village, only to begin anew with my time here. A month ago I didn’t care if I died. A little less than a month ago I felt like I was doing something while I waited for myself to die. Three weeks ago I met Discord and I had someone to be there when I died.

And then? I didn’t want to die. I wanted to see the girls again. I wanted to see Discord again. I wanted… I wanted to not die in that cave, alone, surrounded by ponies that hated me. I wanted to die in Discord’s arms in my forest, or by some miracle to continue life by his magic. But there was no time left for me, so…

So I put forth my feeble efforts and held off my coming demise. I fought against the reaper, forced myself to keep breathing, my heart to keep beating, my life to stay strong. Using my power to make time for me to live.

This was the same thing I had warned Discord against: ‘spirit, fey, man, or god, nothing has the right to subvert nature.’ I had told him. A lifetime of learning that lesson from teachers and examples. But I didn’t care about my own warning.

I rejected every lesson I had ever learned and stretched my one minute out into nearly an hour. As the time grew shorter and shorter I trembled, both in effort and fear. I would scream whenever the guards tried to leave my line of sight; they were a comfort even if they didn’t care.

As my extra time dwindled to only a minute and darkness collected at the edges of my failing vision Discord returned in a blaze of light and sound. The guards yelled and ran as he stood before me, covered in scar and injury, multicolored blood dripping to the ground. In his claws he clutched a simple medallion of gold; my dedication to Uwe. He had succeeded in his quest.

“A bit late.” I softly whispered, managing a tiny smile.

“Never too late, quickly, tell me! Your name!”

As my last second drew to a close and he leaned close I gasped, “Emeline.”

My vision blackened, then filled with a bright white light. I was standing in another white space, nothing to define my surroundings or what I stood upon, my weakness suddenly gone as I stood on my own.

I looked around, seeing nothing but white, wondering if this was what death looked like. I decided that if it was then death was really dull.

I determined that Discord had failed and I had left life trailing mistakes and pain behind me. I lowered my head, feeling regrets of my last few months of life still. Wasn’t death supposed to wash that away? Or was I to carry my regrets for the rest of eternity? Was it a punishment for my failures?

“Nothing to be done now.” I said, beginning to walk forward to no real destination.

“I’m here if anything is out there! Or am I to wander in nothing for eternity?! If I ever see you again Uwe I have a few words for you!” I said, continuing to move, venting some pain into nothing.

So I walked onward, going nowhere. I would walk until something changed I decided. Even if that took forever. Not like I could keep track of time there.

I only wished I might have had a chance to, if nothing else, see the girls one last time.

Interlude: Fixing Harmony

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I was unsure how long I had been in the white. Everything just white, all around me, and nothing different. Not even a little.

It was just my breathing and my heart to tell that I was alive. I could feel nothing except the faint touch of something I was walking on. I was growing both discouraged and desperate. I was starting to think that the white was an underworld, a place where the torment was that nothing was with me. I kept walking, but I was losing my calm with each breath.

Then I saw a black smudge in front of me. It slowly grew, and I smiled as it encompassed me. It was finally something different and I did not care that I didn’t know what it was. From white to total darkness, and then I faintly heard something, the sound as if it was very far but coming closer.

“Emeline! Wake up Emeline! Emeline!”

I jolted as I returned to myself. It was a sudden thing, and I was numb and couldn’t move much at all. Even my eyes remained shut tight, and for a moment, began drifting away again.

“Emeline!” someone screamed in my ear.

That woke me to full consciousness, feeling slowly returning to my limbs. With great effort I opened an eye. A series of colors went past in my vision for a moment and I closed it again.

“Sorry about that, just let me… there!”

I realized that I was hearing Discord’s voice. I reopened my eye to the interior of my home, Discord hovering over me concerned.

For a second I wondered what he was doing in the afterlife. I recalled that spirits cannot be found in the afterlife after a moment of confusion. Since Discord was there next to me, there was only one conclusion.

He had somehow saved me from an eternity of regret.

And now I owed him far more than I would ever admit, unless I was secretly some undead monster.

“Discord?” My voice was rough and I coughed.

“The one and only my dear Emeline!” A glowing sign pointing at him and bearing his name appeared in one hand. He was in good spirits, almost bursting with joy.

“Where, how did you?” I rasped as I shifted to try and stand. He gently stopped me with his hands.

“Not now Emeline, you rest and Discord will take care of everything!”

He produced me a set of tea cups as I settled my mind. My last thoughts had been on my… unwillingness to die and the despair when I hadn’t been able to prevent it. I had been certain of my death and yet here I was, watching Discord… I took a moment to decipher what he was doing with a small sheep and a lantern… make tea. Somehow.

I took my mind off of his antics and looked about. He started when I called for the forest and whipped his head over. The windows vanished and the feeling faded. A touch too late for me to not realize that I hadn’t seen the woods outside my windows and that I couldn’t sense any forest outside the walls.

I looked to him suspiciously, already feeling far more like my old self again. “Where are we Discord?”

He seemed slightly guilty. “We are when they can’t find us.”

“Who are they?”

“Oh, you know: random passerby, the mailman, Pinkie Pie, problems, Twilight, small dogs, large birds, Celestia, the cutie mark crusaders, mayor of Ponyville…” He continued on, trying to fill in the space with meaningless fodder so I would miss the important pieces.

I sighed. I was sharper than that. “And where are we that Celestia and Twilight cannot find us? Answer me Discord.”

He sighed in defeat. “We are in my home. I cannot describe it to you because you are not me.”

In a spirit’s home… a first for me. “Very well. You can tell me what happened as you give me that tea.”

He visibly relaxed and began telling me of his daring escape with me. I had been on the very brink of death (really, like I didn’t know that), but Discord had set it up so that I relived the same instant for eternity. At least until I decided that it was time for me to go, and Discord fully intended to turn me immortal normally before then.

He had never elaborated on his relationship with the ponies, but I was certain that he had broken any relationship he had possessed. Apparently he had been unable to transport me here instantly and had needed to escape normally due to his fight with Uwe, and he tried to wrap up by saying that he had been successful without telling me how he had done so.

I managed to taunt him into revealing that he had turned most of the castle and the city outside into random… anything that had crossed his mind at the time, had a vicious argument with Celestia and Luna over their treatment of me, and escaped with the broken elements after replacing them with a taunting note to Twilight and doodling all over her books. On every page apparently.

I chuckled at his antics and he revealed his grand plot for my ascension to alicornhood.

I was to fix the elements (somehow) and hold them for ransom from the tree of harmony (I was to try and get the tree to give me immortality).

I told him that he was nuts if he thought that would work, and that I would never lower myself to such shameless behavior.

I would fix the elements because I had broken them and not because I wanted to gain something for fixing what I broke. I would find another way to gain natural immortality.

I drank and ate, and then turned my attention to the broken elements. Happiness, honesty, and magic. I knew that I couldn’t just stick them together and hope for the best. Twilight didn’t have a clue where to begin, but I had a few guesses. I had damaged the tree, thereby breaking its external powers: the elements. I would need to heal the crystal tree before the elements could be fixed. I hoped.

And to start that, I would need my hut. “Discord, I will need to return to my actual home before I can begin.”

“Done.”

With a snap, nothing seemed to change, but I could sense the Everfree once more. I grabbed at my pouch and jumped as it grabbed me. I looked to Discord who had a knowing smile on his face and then shrugged. At least with it holding onto my chest I didn’t need to worry about it falling off my back.

The inside was apparently made endless as well. I was able to collect every regent in my old home without difficulty, and pull them free with a thought.

“I need to go back to the tree, maybe I can get a hint as to where to begin.” I said, practicing using the pouch.

“Then make haste Emeline. I shall follow.”

So we made our way to it, Discord nervous for some reason. We entered the cave and I slowed down, my gait apologetic as I sidled up to it. I felt fairly guilty at seeing its grey demeanor, most of its luster stolen away. I was a little afraid of what it might say or do.

“I… We didn’t have the best of relationships I think.” I looked up into its branches, noticing that the other elements were still there. “I didn’t even bother to check what you were actually doing before trying to destroy you.”

I struggled for a moment, trying to express what I had never expressed, not even when I had broken my love’s heart. “I’m… I’m...” I stopped trying and sighed, unable to speak the word, and I simply hoped that it might know what I was trying to tell it.

I put my hoof on its trunk and was stunned by the feeling. It forgave me. I had ripped off what might as well have been its limbs and it forgave me without any anger or need to give it some gift. I was speechless at its mercy and, like the first spirit that I had torn from its grip, offered my services anyway.

I asked it how I might restore its previous beauty. I got my response quickly: I had to find the elements I had broken in a physical form.

Yes. Happiness, loyalty, and magic in a form that I could touch and feel. I made sure to determine that’s what it meant before I wondered if the tree was mad somehow. It was very sure of the idea despite the insanity of the statement and wished me the best of luck in the search.

“Where in all of Equestria am I going to find that?!” I asked it.

“Nowhere you’re going, Hag.” Came the response, full of venom. I turned around, seeing a rather upset Twilight and Celestia, the other element bearers just behind them. Twilight glared at me while Celestia looked up to Discord with a faint frown.

“Discord!” yelled Celestia, “You have betrayed your friends! Maybe you have something to say for yourself before we seal you again?”

“Only that I did not betray anypony. I saved a friend from you trying to kill her!”

Twilight gasped suddenly, spotting one of the elements peeking out of my pouch, having been brought to the top by my thinking of them. “Hag has got the broken elements!”

Discord suddenly swooped in front of me, his head turned toward me like an owl’s.

“You must go!” he said, “I can make sure that they can’t find you so easily, but they might be able to track you anyway!” He winced suddenly, blocking my vision and somehow my hearing of what occurred past his sudden bulk.

He ran his paw over me carefully, his eyes softening, “You can do this Emeline.” he whispered to me, “You can do it, even without me by your side. Goodbye.”

He and the cave grew misty, as though I was drawing away from him. It was only then I saw that his various skins were stoning, his head the last thing to freeze up, locking him in his protective embrace and a faint smile on his face. I could hear a shout, but then I was gone, shooting through endless clouds.

“Where did Hag go?!” yelled Rainbow as Twilight struggled to understand Discord’s last few actions. He had teleported me by the most arcane and non-intuitive manner possible, as well as covering me in chaotic magic, preventing Twilight or Celestia from just sensing me and bringing me back from wherever Discord had sent me.

“I’m going to jot down some notes on this.” Twilight said as Celestia continued to try to understand what he had done.

Fluttershy just trotted up to Discords frozen face and regarded it sadly.

“Why are you lookin at him like that Fluttershy?” asked Applejack, “It’s as obvious as the hat on my head that he dun went an betrayed us.”

“Maybe he didn’t.” she softly said, running a hoof over his stony face, “He was protecting her. Maybe… maybe we betrayed him?” she finished with a faint squeak.

“Don’t be absurd darling, did you see what the monster did to Canterlot? Or to Twilight’s treasured books? He even used permanent marker!”

Twilight sagged, but continued to scribble, “I don’t like to think about that.”

“Sorry darling, but Fluttershy is feeling sad for Discord of all ponies.”

“Nopony else will…”

At the last, they were unable to track me and returned to their homes, Celestia returning to Canterlot. Discord had left such a trail of chaos in his wake when breaking me free of my prison it would take a long time to remove every effect and repair the damage. The notes that he had left behind was what puzzled Twilight, as had his words when he dueled with the twin princesses.

‘You almost let her die’ had been the most common. ‘Friends don’t let friends die’ had been another. ‘You idiots’, ‘blind and senseless’; it was difficult to tell what he meant beyond expressing anger. He had been very upset when they caught me and had me in the underground cage and had simply vanished when they confronted him. Four days later he returned, broke me free, and ran amok, leaving messages scrawled over every page of Twilight’s library and most of what was left of Canterlot. They had lost him after that until that day. A week after his chaos in Canterlot.

‘I saved a friend from you trying to kill her!’ he had said to Celestia before he had been stoned by her spell. ‘Maybe we betrayed him.’ Fluttershy had said.

Had Discord broken their trust, causing a massive wake of chaos when breaking out what might be Equestria’s greatest villain from her prison, or had they somehow misunderstood everything, and broken Discord’s trust in them? Twilight didn’t know anymore.

“I did visit her, and she always seemed weak, but not dying. She ever made any sense either: ‘the crystal tree is an invader, a blight on the natural world’ she had said, right?” she muttered to herself as she looked through the few notes she had made on me.

She hadn’t even been in Canterlot on the day we escaped, but she had been… at the time she had thought I was faking my infirmity. Discord had implied that I had been dying, but that made no sense to her.

Twilight put my age at mid-60s. Far too young to perish from age, and my strength during our brief battle had bellied any ideas of infirmity. I claimed to have only know Discord for a few days, but I had lied before. Discord had been, for various reasons, unable to tell them anything that might suggest otherwise.

She thought about it. Perhaps we had plotted the entire thing out together? Breaking the only thing stopping Discord would have been expected before he was reformed, but why wait? Was he faking everything for that long, and if so, why? Why with me, then? How had I been able to break the elements anyway?

None of it made sense when she viewed it as a whole, and now Discord couldn’t answer any questions and I was somewhere where they couldn’t find me.

And doing what? Trying to find a way to break the rest of the elements? Plotting revenge over my imprisoners? Something worse?

She thought about what she knew I had done. She knew I had kept the CMC with me, and the three fillies were constantly getting into trouble with their insistence that I was a good pony that helped them, but I did return them safe and sound. Why do that if I had lied to them? Why lie at all? Too many questions and not enough information.

Twilight got little sleep that night.

Finding Happiness 1

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The next day Twilight was surrounded by paper, trying to break the puzzle that I had accidentally given her by sheer brute force. Spike brought her drinks and new quills as she used them up with endless theories over everything that I had done and every word I said during my brief time in contact with her.

She huffed in frustration, “I need more than this! It just doesn’t make any sense! I need to know why she did everything, but she never really told us and I didn’t write down what she did say!” Twilight thumped her head on the table.

“You shouda asked her when you had the chance.” remarked Spike as he refilled her cup.

“But I didn’t! And now it’s really important that I should have! I’m the one who spent the most time with her and I wasted it!”

“No you didn’t.” Spike said offhandedly.

Twilight looked up, confused. “Wait what? Spike? What do you mean?”

Spike looked over his shoulder at her as he began leaving, “The CMC spent two weeks with her, remember? They even told me that she taught them a lot of stuff.”

Twilight blinked. Spike hesitated at Twilight’s growing grin. “That’s it!” she crowed and picked him up for a brief instant in a hug. “Spike you are a genius!”

“Thanks, but how?” he asked, confusion scrunching his face up.

“I can explain later! For now I need you to get the CMC over here so I can ask them to fill in the missing pieces of Hag’s psychology! I need to prepare for this! I am not going to miss writing down important information this time, so bring them in an hour, O.K Spike?”

“I got it.” He said as he headed off, long used to not understanding Twilight’s ideas. Best to just do what she said and not wonder what she meant.

Soon, the three fillies were watching Twilight as she readied Spike and several magical ways to record every word spoken.

“And there! O.K girls!” she smiled at them, “You’re not in any trouble! I just need you to remember the time you spent at Miss Hag’s house!”

“I thought that you didn’t want to hear about that…” said Sweetie.

“Now I do, go ahead.”

The three looked at each other before Applebloom began.

“Well, we were goin ta Zecora’s place like we sometimes do.”

“Without my sister’s permission” added Sweetie with a frown on her face.

“An when we got in th Everfree we got lost. We wandered around fer a few hours an then a pack o timberwolves pounced.”

Applebloom trailed off as all three looked uncomfortable. “They… they hurt us, bad.”

Scootaloo took a deep breath, “But then Miss Hag jumped outta the woods and yelled and they ran off!”

Twilight frowned, “She just yelled at them? And they just left?”

Scootaloo nodded, “She said that if she couldn’t command a single… keistamaner… thing, then she wouldn’t be Hag!”

Twilight found this rather unbelievable. A pack of timberwolves spooked off by an old pony yelling? That if she couldn’t command them she wouldn’t be herself? Perhaps the girls were misremembering she reasoned.

My healing of them had cast severe doubts about their injuries as well. Ponies reasoned that such injuries would take far longer than two weeks to heal, which they would have without the forest’s boost and my expertise. That then led to the idea that the girls were exaggerating or I had convinced them otherwise. That led to fights, with the girls defending me and their loved ones trying to tell them that they were lied to, and that I was a bad pony.

“So she carried us back to her house, it was small and filled with stuff!” Scootaloo said.

Sweetie nodded, “She bandaged us up so we looked like mummies!”

“An she fixed my legs.” Applebloom said.

Twilight grew concerned. Applebloom was still insistent after all this time and that worried her. She couldn’t believe that the filly would be so certain, even in the face of punishment, and wondered how much I had twisted their little minds.

“Then she kept tellin us ta keep still and fed us some horrible thing that made th pain go away, but I couldn’t talk.”

Sweetie nodded, “She took good care of us even if she did tie us to the bed.”

“She what?!” Twilight abruptly yelled, shocked.

All three of them cringed, “Hang on Twilight!” yelled Scootaloo, “We kinda deserved it!”

That did not help matters. Sweetie tried to salvage it with, “You see, she said not to move and we kept moving even when she yelled, so she had to!” She smiled in an attempt to defuse the situation.

Based on Twilight’s twitching eye, she had failed.

That was the first time somepony had actually asked them about their stay, and it seemed that they had just gotten me in more trouble by telling the tale in full. All three were trying to find some way to prove to somepony that I wasn’t evil, and they felt as if they had just lost a chance to.

But by some miracle Twilight took a deep breath instead of blowing up at them. Many deep breaths. Quite a few before she was calm again.

“O.K girls… I’m fine, keep going.” She said after a while.

They looked to each other again.

“Not if you’re gonna think that Miss Hag’s a bad pony.” Stated Applebloom, bless her tiny heart.

The other two nodded in tandem and Twilight began deep breathing again, her diligent assistant and recording spells continuing to write down the minor chaos that a simple interview had become. Discord would have been proud.

I slowly came back to myself. My trip through the clouds had been long and oddly tiring and I was getting sick of being in white nothingness. Clouds are a bit different than pure white, but still.

I didn’t bother trying to move or open my eyes at first. I called around, trying to tell if I was in the Everfree. I was not, and a voice came back, calling itself the far woods. It was much bigger than the Everfree and was surprised.

Nothing had ever spoken to it before, and it felt burdened with the need to respond. It told me that if I asked, it would give and not to bother it with questions.

The interaction was a bit calming; there were normal forests here after all, though the Everfree had been much friendlier than the far woods. I began longing for the Everfree’s voice, wanting to hear it again, but I held myself back. I had a job to do and the Everfree would not hold what I sought.

I opened my eyes. I was resting on a bed that someone had folded in two, one half pointing into the air so as to mimic a chair’s backrest. I stared at it, wondering why anypony would do that before shifting to see the room I was in.

I was in a simple home, in the main room I guessed. A table sat nearby, several chairs around it, all of them made from a dark wood. A smaller table sat right in front of the bed I was resting on, far too short for anypony to sit at. A lantern on that table illuminated the inside weakly with a dim flame, and a window allowed me to see out into the forest and note that it was the middle of the night.

I noted the time change. It had been morning when Discord and I had gotten to the crystal tree. I moved to my feet, trying to be silent. A door was nearby, as were several cushioned chairs and a large dresser that I had failed to see before. Asleep in one chair was a pony.
The coat was a dark red and the mane was pink. It wore a robe about itself, and using my suspicion, I decided that it must have found me somewhere and brought me here.

I would have left then, if not for the feel in the air. There had been a death. Probably of a child if I didn’t miss my guess and the effects lingered in the house.

Death can harm the… spirit of a home, and cause sickness or even more death if it lingered. Normally the effects were wiped out by the normal life of those that lived on, but this was an old feeling and the pony before me must live in the house. It hadn’t been dispelled despite that, and that was very concerning.

I took a closer look around the small home, noting that the pony was oftentimes depicted with two others in many tiny paintings scattered about the room; an adult with a brown coloration and a foal with green fur. The red one had a rose on its flank, the brown a shovel, and the foal had no mark, due to its youth.

Quite the talented artist had made them; the details were stunning for such tiny images. They were no more than a few inches across and were covered by a layer of glass, most standing atop a table or chest instead of hanging on the wall for some reason.

I could tell their age and tapped one, noting that the glass covering was nearly invisible; another example of great craftwork. But why would somepony go through such effort for a tiny glass cover on a painting?

The oldest ones had all three ponies depicted. The newer ones only had the red pony and the foal. The newest, the one sitting on the dresser, was of the foal alone, a large smile on its face as it held a colorful ball and sat atop a blue blanket. The picture was placed with great care amidst some toys and sat atop the same blanket it showed.

I was looking at a shrine to a dead child. No wonder the feel of death hadn’t gone, it was being increased by that kind of behavior. I knew that I had to fix it before it got worse.

The pony in the chair shifted and opened its eyes, blinking in the low light. It saw me soon; I was caught in my own thoughts and standing in plain view.

“You’re awake?” she asked, the voice giving away her sex. She reminded me of flowers for some reason. “Are you all right?”

I looked to her, taking great care to hear the tone she spoke in and see the colors of her soul. Both were bright, but there was an underlying pain and darkness in her soul that threatened to consume her. Great grief, and based on my discovery, grief over death.

“I am fine, yes.” I said, “And you might be…?”

“I’m Rose Bush, and I found you out in my garden earlier today.” She was tired and yawned, “You were lying in my rose bush after this odd fog just dropped from the sky and I carried you into my home when I couldn’t wake you. Where did you come from miss…?”

“Hag, my name is Hag. Thank you Rose Bush, your kindness is most appreciated.” I looked back at the picture, and made a decision.

“Did you love them Rose?” I asked, not looking at her.

For a moment she was confused until she saw what I looked at. With tears in her eyes she responded, “I did.” I wondered about the perfect willingness to tell me that, but it did make what I was doing easier.

“But now they are gone, and you are alone.” I said.

“How would…”

“There’s nothing left here for you is there?” I looked over at her slightly stunned expression, “They were everything and now they are gone. Why bother to continue? You don’t want to go on without them and wish that they were still here. How long now?”

“Only a month…” she said. I had dazed her. I just needed to say the right things and I would have done it.

“A month is a long time for grief Rose Bush. The life of a child and mate enriches your life, but they cannot be allowed to define it. Your child would weep to see you like this, to see you slumped in that chair, to see you looking at his picture with tears in your eyes. You think of seeing him again. Tell me Rose, what you want.”

“I… I want… I want to see him again. My little Sunny… It’s so hard to go on…” As she spoke tears collected in her eyes, though she still stared at me as though forced to.

“But go on we must. We do not hold the power to determine our own end.” I stepped up to her, looked deep into her eyes and focused, not blinking.

“Live for him Rose. Live your life as though he is with you, and when the time comes you will be reunited.” My eyes bored into her own, an unbreakable will behind them to force her to make the correct choice.

I allowed my eyes to soften, “Perhaps you can even find him another father, and a sibling or two?”

She nodded slowly, unable to take her eyes from mine. I watched her soul darken, absorb the pain and take it in. Now it wouldn’t kill her, and she could deal with the grief properly instead of forever pining after her lost family. “Good. Now go back to sleep, I shall handle your wakening.”

She went back to the chair like a puppet before collapsing into it, asleep before she hit the cushions. That had been easy; she was very easy to manipulate compared to most I had attempted that to. The last time I had tried to do that I had needed to make the woman hate me to get her over her depression. She did too, just so I would be wrong about her.

I looked around. My words had a great impact, but I needed to make sure that they stuck.

I was gone before sunrise. She would find her home cleaned, breakfast prepared (oats), and a tree moved from its place to allow the morning sun to better come into the house. I also brightened the place up; she had darkened it in her grief and I found many unused lanterns in a closet.

The last touch was the picture of her child. I had never seen such a tiny painting before, but I had a trick or two I had learned from painters. It would appear as though her child was alive when she saw it out of the corner of her eye, playing with his ball, or looking at her with different expressions.

Just enough to make her feel like he was still with her, and not accidentally send her into madness. Didn’t want to replace one problem with another.

The woods I entered were calm, quiet, didn’t like being spoken to, and home to a large town not far from where I was. I headed toward the town; I needed directions and some food before I continued on. I had a new duty, two in fact.

First: remedy my mistakes, and heal the tree of harmony, returning the elements to their rightful state and possibly finding forgiveness from the ponies. The second was far simpler if I ever saw him again. Free Discord from his stony prison. I really wanted some harsh words for the pony that did that to him. Petrification was a cruel way to trap somepony.

At least the town, Leaffall, was bright and happy. Rose Bush had gotten me down a bit, and this place was doing wonders for perking me up, the morning light beautiful as it shone through the colorful leaves. It reminded me of Ponyville, but Leaffall was smaller and not as open to strangers.

I soon ran into a problem. The ponies didn’t barter. They used ‘bits’ and wouldn’t buy my herbs in exchange for some so I could get some fruit from them. Seemed I would need to scavenge in the woods and not enjoy their carrots.

But not until I was absolutely certain that I couldn’t convince the pony selling them otherwise. It was as I was trying to convince the shopkeeper that he really needed a load of dried parsley in his life that I heard a shout from behind me.

I looked and gaped; Rose Bush was running toward me, determination in her eyes and life in her step. She soon got to me, gasping slightly.

“Ha… Hag!” she wheezed, “I nearly… nearly forgot about you!”

“Deep breaths Rose Bush.” I said, “Why are you here, and not at your home?”

“I just wanted to say…” she turned to look at the shopkeeper who was shocked into stillness for some reason. “Do you mind?” she asked, her tone growing sharper, “I am trying to have a conversation.”

“But you haven’t been…” he began.

“I know that! Just… oh fine, Hag could you follow me?”

I did so, curiosity consuming me. We soon came upon a small river running through the town and she stopped at a point far from other ponies. I did notice that we were attracting a lot of stunned looks and hushed whispers. I was wondering what was going on.

Rose took a deep breath, “I just wanted to say thank you Hag.”

“There is no need.” I said, “You needed my help and you have already helped me. No need to feel indebted to this old woman.”

“But there is!” She continued in a quiet voice, “I haven’t left my home since... a long time. And I always wondered why I was still alive, but then I found you in my rose bush and you just made everything better again!”

“Is that why the entire town is staring?” I asked.

She looked about, a faint blush appearing on her cheeks as if she hadn’t noticed them until now. “How long were you in your home? I figured it had only been a month.” I said.

“It was… um…” she leaned in and whispered, “A couple of years or so.”

I blinked. A couple of years or so?

“After my husband died, I never got the urge to go beyond my own gardens really.” She looked down with a shy smile before looking back up to me, “But now I do! And with you!”

“Who with what?” I asked. My mind had been too busy wondering over her words. A few years! She was a hermit! I was stunned that she hadn’t died of heartbreak after that long of nursing her pain and hadn’t really listened to her.

“You Hag! You’re like a gift from the sky! You got me living again after so long! Please, please let me come with you, wherever you’re going! I want to be by your side until the day I pass! To go where you go! To see what you see, to get to be with the pony that gave me life again! Please take me with you Hag! I need to be with you!”

That was uncomfortably like a proposal to my ears, and to the ears of our gang of eavesdroppers; the whispers picked up in intensity.
What could I do? If I turned her down, she would resume her old life, wondering why she continued to breathe, and I found the idea unacceptable.

I bemoaned my luck internally, already knowing what I was going to say. That had never happened before when I consoled a widow!

“Yes, just.” I managed before she squealed and jumped for joy, standing on her back hooves and clapping her front hooves together.
I had never really been embarrassed before, but this was nearing even my legendary tolerance. Everypony was watching, whispering, and I was sure that they had misconstrued the situation. It was easy to, with her choice of words.

“Don’t…” I sighed. Too slow to prevent her from calling this to the attention of the entire town.

“Just wait right here and I’ll be right back! I need to pick up my things and then I’ll be right back!” she ran off with a huge smile, unheeding of the crowd.

I looked about at them. “Go on, git! You got your show! Go on! Back to whatever you were doing!” I chased them off and I kept getting congratulations and odd looks when I got mad whenever somepony said that.

I had once found myself tied to a tree branch in a pink dress and bows in my hair (fairy trick, don’t ask), and that seemed a better fate than this, especially with the giggles and snickers of the crowd as I chased them off. Least then only one man had found me and had been quite kind considering.

That was how I met my love, Na… I’m off the trail. Back to the correct tale!

Rose Bush returned soon with saddlebags that bulged to near bursting. “O.K Hag! I got everything a pony might need for a journey in here!”

“Like a house?” I asked, not so subtly trying to get her to return to her own life.

“Of course not!” she giggled. “This contains my money and whatever food I could pack, and this has the stuff I couldn’t leave behind!” She indicated her left and right bags in turn.

“So where to Hag? There is nothing left for me here, just like you said, and Sunny always loved to see the outdoors! I am sure that he would have adored going on a journey!”

Well that explained why she had followed me, uprooting her life to wander where I might. I really stepped in that one didn’t I?
“I don’t even know where Leaffall is in Equestria.” I said, “Do you have a map or something in there?”

She nodded in conformation before producing a rough map. It seemed that the town was near to whatever ‘the dragon wastes’ were. We were to the southeast of Ponyville, on the far side from the Everfree.

I determined that the best path seemed north, where I could find larger settlements like Manehattan, where I might find some kind of clue as to where I could find the elements that I was looking for.

Ponies would gather in large towns, just like people, and more ponies meant a better chance at getting an idea of where to find them. I had gone on similar searches in my youth, but not for something as vague as happiness that I could touch. Still, what held for one thing should hold for another.

“I am heading north, along the coast.” I said, wrapping up the map before plunging it into my own sack. “Let’s go, far ways to travel before we reach anything.”

Rose followed after me, humming a tune. As we left town I turned to her, “By any chance, do you know where I might find some happiness, honesty, or magic?” Stupid question really, but I needed to find their physical forms somewhere in this land.

She thought about it before smiling and saying, “You seem to carry a lot of happiness in you Hag!”

“But what’s bugging me is your bag,” she said, “I’ve never seen one quite like that. It’s almost like its grabbing you.”

“I made it myself a long time ago. A friend enchanted it so that I could carry what I needed in it. And it does grab me see?” I pulled at it and she frowned to see it pull at my skin. I could detach it with some force, but for now I let it snap back to me and kept walking.

Rose recovered and resumed humming. Not that I disliked music, but silence is golden. I didn’t have the heart to stop her, at least not now, and we left Leaffall together, heading into the woods, and towards Manehatten. I only hoped that I would be able to find what I sought for swiftly, and possibly that Rose would realize that she shouldn't be following me and return to her own home.

*** At Canterlot castle, as the sun drops and the moon rises ***

“And you cannot find her?”

“Discord left her covered in his magic. It is like trying to find a specific leaf on a forest floor Luna.”

“Mayhap we can help. It is possible that she dreams, and nopony can hide from us in our own realm.”

Celestia smiled at her sister, “It would be most appreciated sister. But promise me that you will be careful, Hag is far stronger than she looks.”

Luna laughed. “Fear not Tia! We are the mistress of dreams! Not some gaurdpony waiting to be overpowered by an old mare!”

Celestia watched her sister go with a faint smile. I didn’t seem dangerous, but Twilight had said that I had been able to overpower Applejack and Rainbow during their fight, both strong ponies. Her sister was perfectly capable though, so she set aside her concerns. Maybe Luna would even be able to bring this problem to a close faster than Celestia anticipated.

Finding Happiness 2

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“All right girls, listen.” Twilight said.

“If you never pester me about Hag’s being a good pony, I won’t bring up that I… all right! Fine! She’s a good pony! I don’t really care anymore!”

Spike watched in amazement and a healthy amount of boredom, the magical writing utensils next to him still jotting down endless notes into piles of paper larger than he was. The CMC had put their hooves down and though it had taken, he looked at the clock, eight hours of argument consisting of ‘yes she is’ and ‘no she isn’t’, they had gotten Twilight to back down.

“Can you just begin again? I promise I won’t interrupt at all unless you need to clarify.” Twilight said, fatigue written on her face.

The three fillies nodded. They each took turns telling of their time spent with me in the Everfree. The way I kept them from harming themselves during their recovery, and the way I spoiled them rotten during their original week.

Sweetie had loved my lessons in knitting and excitedly told Twilight a surprising amount of knowledge considering her inability to knit a sock. She also included my cooking lessons, and my ever patient attitude with them.

Scootaloo told her of my ‘flying lessons’ (I was making it up as I went, and Twilight knew that very soon) and my efforts to teach them to clean. I had taken the time to study her wings and had told her whatever I knew about birds (and made up a fair bit) while I tried to use my powers to remedy her problem (which she translated as me pulling on them to make them grow).

While she was getting better, I needed to spend a lot more time on that before she could fly for any stretch of time.

Applebloom told her that I never let her grow bored or upset, what with her being bedbound while her friends spent so much time learning and creating disasters without her. She had also been able to tell, at least somewhat, how I had healed the trio with my herbs and remembered what I had said about this plant or that. Twilight had been puzzled, not knowing of any mix of plants that could speed healing. She even remembered the thorn vine which Twilight didn’t know about, thank the spirits. If she knew its normal properties she might have thought I had tried to poison them. She told her how I had helped her so much when she finally could walk again, and had been endlessly concerned over them all during the entire ordeal.

All three remembered the treats I baked for them, though they did not remember the names of my dishes. They remembered me like a family member, one that had taken them in and held them closer and more affectionately than any mere stranger. They told Twilight of my teachings of the woods, and the tests I had made them take. Sweetie Belle even still had one to show her.

My information was entirely foreign to Twilight and she had asked them for more of the same until they told her nearly everything I had taught them. I wish I could have seen her face when they told her about my timberwolf remarks, and their near perfect memories of the one I had rendered docile for them to study.

“An then we came back to town an went back ta our homes.”

“Rarity had been so happy, but when I told her about Miss Hag she got really mad…”

“Same here. Applejack blew her hat clear offa her head.”

“We know she lied,” Scootaloo said, “But we’re certain that she had a good reason for it! She took care of us after all!”

All three nodded once more and looked to Twilight who was exhausted. They had arrived at lunch and now it was far past dinner, the moon in the sky. Spike was snoring where he had fallen amidst piles of paper produced by her magical scribes.

“That’s all girls?” she asked blearily as she eyed the piles of paper, dreading having to go through that bulk.

They nodded again. “All right, go on, I don’t need to hear any more.”

“Bye Twilight!” they called as they left, bright and chipper, into the night.

Twilight groaned as she shifted through the papers. Unless the girls had met a completely different yet identical Hag, her problem had just grown more complex instead of simplifying like she had expected it to.

She had anticipated that I would have let slip something to show her that I was evil to the girls, and instead she got a picture of a pony who anypony would adore as a mother or grandmother. The girls even slipped up from time to time and called me grandmother during their tales.

But the girls had also told her about Discord’s visits, and how I would indulge his behavior. That helped to support the idea that we had worked together to break the elements. More than a few of my child rearing methods struck her as wrong as well.

That was the same throughout their tale. Something to proclaim my innocence and good nature followed by something to tell her that I was evil. Twilight couldn’t understand and groaned as a headache made itself known from the conflicting information.

Resolving to sift through the piles with the rest of her friends tomorrow she went to the sleeping Spike and picked him up. She hoped that a good night’s rest, or somepony else’s thoughts, would render this clearer than it was right now.

Rose Bush was 32. She had been dumfounded when I told her my age, and told me I looked no older than 70. I enjoyed it, being seen as young.

She had met her husband when she had been 17 and married him at 19, moving to Leaffall at the same time, and her child was born when she was 30. She wasn’t able to tell me what took so long to conceive, only that they had tried to have a foal before then.

Her husband died a few days after his son’s birth, some accident. Her son had passed when he was two, leaving a grieving widow even more grief-stricken. She had not returned to Leaffall after her husband’s death, and she had barely dragged herself out of bed after her son had followed him.

You would never know it by the chipper pony that followed me now. She sang, she skipped, and she loved the flowers that covered the woods. She pointed out particularly beautiful blooms and remarked on the colors of fall, running through the piles of leaves with the energy of a foal.

She would also often magic roses from the very air. There was no rose bush when I looked and when she stepped into the woods she would return with several blooms that would make a weak heart weep for their beauty.

She called it her talent, and what her cutie mark stood for; finding and raising roses. I called it witchcraft, but didn’t press too hard. They were very beautiful flowers.

She was ignorant of the woods, and often cited my grounded fears as groundless, plunging headlong into the bushes and traipsing amidst flower circles without heed.

It never happened, but fey love those kinds of woods. I always got jumpy around bright groves of flowers, lest they turn out to hold a population of fairies. Any circular group of flowers might be a fey circle and if they were, Rose Bush would be gone faster than I might be able to save her, off playing with the fey.

I hadn’t calmed down after the last dozen jumps into a suspiciously circular field of daisies, and I never would if I had a choice.

The time I didn’t look would be the time that the fey were there and I needed to be aware and ready to act to save her from that fate.

It was sometimes awkward traveling with another. I was used to the company of the forest and spirits, not another mortal walking next to me. She had nearly thought me mad when she caught me conversing with the forest. I had managed to convince her that I really was talking to the trees (I got one to bend over and tap her, got a good laugh at that trick) and she had been endlessly curious ever since. The remark that it was my cutie mark had only spurred her on.

I told her some things about hags. Small inconsequential things like how hags lived in the woods and were normally older mares, but she always listened like I was giving her a grave secret. She would always wish me good night when we laid to sleep, and she would always help me to lay upon the… things the… sleeping bags, that was it! The sleeping bags that she had brought with her when we laid to sleep.

It was annoying, really! She treated me like one would a greatly respected and loved elder, helping me whenever she thought I might require her aid. I should be the one doing that to her! Not the other way round. But she liked doing it, so I let her.

“Rose!” I cried for the ‘I don’t know how many times’ time as she rushed into another field of flowers. The ponies apparently planted them along the trail, but I didn’t trust that all of them were built by mortal hooves.

“Come on Hag! I already told you no tiny insect is going to whisk me away! Enjoy the flowers while we don’t have snow!”

“Fey aren’t insects” I muttered as I passed, her following after me, trailing blooms, not responding to her comment about the snow.

Apparently the weather in Equestria was made by ponies, pegasi to be specific. That nagged at me, but Rose Bush had been unable to understand my preference for normal weather patterns. We were due for snow in two days, and it would take us three days to arrive at Manehatten after two days of traveling down this road already.

“Sometimes I just don’t know how you think Rose Bush.”

“You just need to have a little fun.”

The forest told me before they came into view. A trio of large humanoids were coming our way.

“Get behind me Rose.” I told her, watching the forest for their arrival; they were heading toward us with intent.

She did so and we both gasped when three (three!) juvenile drakes swooped into the clearing and landed not far from us.

They looked like men the way they stood upright and like teenagers from their leers; full of themselves and sure of their health. Still, dragons! Three healthy drakes that would allow me to gather three sets of the rarest gifts and regents known to mankind without the danger of trying to gather from a full grown dragon.

“Ha!” called the largest, standing over twice my height (about six feet I think) and far bulkier than myself, “I knew that there were ponies here!”

His voice was aggravating. It sounded like he had a stopped up nose. And he reminded me of the raiders that had slaughtered my people too and I glared. “I suppose we can find some fun here, right boys?” he said, smirking.

The other two nodded and all three approached, certain that we posed no threat to them. Rose Bush didn’t. She was whimpering and trembling behind me, hooves over her head, but they were in for a nasty surprise. Nastier than it honestly had to be; they brought up bad memories.

When the first reached out a clawed hand I slapped it away. He was stunned for a moment until I punched him, putting the strength of the forest behind me until my blow must have felt like a bull had run into him. He flew back to collide with a tree with a loud crack, the tree falling over from the force and he slumped against the new stump.

The other two turned to look and I jumped one of them, landing like a boulder and impacting him into the dirt. The third saw this and took off before I could get him as well.

“Wait a minute!” I called after him, “I want your scales too!” the woods whipped at him, trying to prevent his leaving for but he managed to get away. “Spirits curse it!” I yelled as I stomped the dragon I stood upon. It yelped.

The dragon under me groaned. I looked down into his eyes and they shrunk at my angry expression. “You two are going to have to do. Now just hold still,“ I whispered to it, smiling wickedly, “and we can have some fun.”

Rose Bush had been understandably unwilling to help me descale the stupid beasts, especially when the first had screamed so much. I had gotten nearly four pounds of scales and the pair of horns off of the big one even if they were tiny. I would have gotten more, but Rose Bush’s horrified, sick expression convinced me to let them live.

As we were continuing onward Rose found her voice again, “How did you…?”

“Get them like that? I ask the forest for its strength and then I pummel them. Strength to lift a full grown bull and the power to crack stone for a little bit of time.” I sifted through the scales, “This one is bad, spirits take it.” I said as I tossed a cracked and thin scale away.

“Well, I certainly feel safer now.” Rose said in a wondering tone, “But what are we going to do with so many dragon scales? And did you really have to take them all? It seemed… painful.”

I looked at the mass again before putting it away in my pouch. “With this many we could even create dragon scale mail for protection, if I can find a needle strong enough.”

“Are we going to?”

“Probably not, unless we find somepony that could use it. We can use this bounty for other things if we don’t. I can think of a few potions that call for dragon scale, but this amount was far beyond what I had anticipated finding in my life.”

“What about the horns you… ripped off of the other one?”

“Those are going to hang on my wall until I need to bribe somepony.” I said with certainty. Spirits and men held dragon horns in high regard; I could bargain for a lot even with that sad example of horns.

“Just when you think you know somepony.” remarked Rose Bush, smiling as she shook her head.

“I didn’t even know you like to hum endlessly until you decided to leave everything and come with me. Still don’t really know Rose Bush, the pony that can find the impossible rose bushes.”

“They are always there! You just can’t see them like I can!”

“That’s right.” I said, “I can’t. Let’s hurry up, I don’t want to get caught in that snowstorm for too long before we reach the settlement.”

She nodded happily, my meaning entirely missed. “Manehatten is a city, not a settlement.”

“Same thing”

“I can’t wait to see your face when we pass out of the woods and see it.”

She knew something I didn’t, she was smirking. Cities were what people called towns that got big enough to receive trading caravans. They contained maybe a thousand souls, sometimes more. What would Manehatten be? Some kind of dream realm where the impossible became real and you could see the endless numbers of the living march before you?

I was back in my pine forest on the mountainside. Snow fell from the sky as I fed my fire, boiling leather from a boar that a hunter had given to me.

I was dreaming.

First, I stirred my pot with hooves to grip my stirring stick. Second, the trees near me were far too uniform and I was humming that catchy tune that Rose Bush had been so enamored by. Third. For whatever reason the moon was growing HUGE in the sky and getting bigger.

I stopped stirring and looked up to it. With a sudden flash an alicorn appeared from the celestial object and flew toward me. It had a dark coat and an ethereal blue mane that flowed over its shoulders, with a simple tiara on its head and a crescent moon cutie mark.

As it approached it roared, the voice bending the trees with its volume, “We have found thee Hag! Now surrender and come peacefully with us or suffer our wrath!”

It walked in dreams, looked a bit like Celestia who I was afraid of, and talked both in plural and with a strength beyond any set of lungs. I knew what I was dealing with.

A dream eater.

They were nasty things, slithering into people’s minds and giving them nightmares, trapping their victims in an endless sleep until they eventually withered away. This one was stupid if it thought this scared me, but they weren’t to be taken lightly. Thank the spirits my teacher had taught me how to deal with them.

I didn’t rise up to meet it in combat, as that would be useless. Instead, I focused on the dream itself, taking great care to gain perfect control over it. It was my mind and I could command it far better than the monster.

It was tough, I’ll give it that. Took my greatest thoughts; fighting off the frost giants, and braving the biting cold of the frost dragon. It fought me with grace and power, but was unable to combat so much. I had seen far too many horrors and powerful beings for it to overcome. I made them worse too; this was a dream after all.

It fell at long last and I dismissed my mind’s defense before they could defeat it totally. I walked up to it and smirked before turning around. I took great delight in bucking it, screaming, back into its moon and yelling, “Try that in life and I’ll rip you into three equal parts!” as it went.

Wish I had known better. Would have saved me some pain and a lot of effort later on.

I didn’t tell Rose about the dream eater when I awoke and we continued on, making good progress and watching the snowfall when we prepared to sleep again. One day of marching through snow, wearing boots and scarves provided by Rose Bush and I completely failed to withhold my expression upon seeing Manehatten. Rose just kept laughing and guided me forward toward…

I had no words for the sight and still find myself a little speechless at the memory. Buildings towered over me like the mountains, and countless ponies crowded the streets, more lives than I had ever seen clustered together and that was only in the one area. Carts that Rose called ‘carriages’ ran in the middle of massive streets paved with stone of some kind, light emanating from buildings that had a pane of glass ten times larger than any glassmaker could produce for a giant front window. Everything was lit and I didn’t know how.

The sound and noise was deafening, and the sheer size of everything was terrifying. No forest was nearby, no spirit for me to lean on. I saw nothing that I could name and, for the first time in my life, I was terrified. I had stepped into a dragon’s lair and stood brave, but there? There I was lost. I was alone in a place that denied my understanding.

Rose had taken my reaction as endless amusement until I had just stopped and refused to move or answer her call. She had taken one look at my face and called for a carriage, getting the driver to help my stiff form aboard, and making sure that she was next to me at all times.

I do not remember the trip. I am certain that if Rose Bush had not been by my side I might never had awoken from that. She was by my side like she had known me for her entire life, keeping me close and trying to calm me with her humming.

I regained consciousness in the softest bed I had ever slept on, the blanket thick and soft and made of a material I couldn’t identify. I failed to see Rose immediately and grew panicked.

“Rose!” I cried with an uncomfortable amount of desperation.

“I’m here, I’m here!” she called back, entering the room from the far side and rushing to the bed. “Are you all right Hag? You just stopped… everything after a while and you wouldn’t respond.”

She put her hoof on my shoulder as I took several deep breaths, her presence calming me. “I… it's… spirits curse it.” I said, pushing myself upright and standing next to her atop a fuzzy floor. As if someone had been making a sweater and then decided that the floor looked like it needed one too. I didn’t like it at the time.

“I just got displaced Rose.” I said, feeling weak.

“Displaced?”

“There is nothing in this city I had ever seen before, and even the sheer number of lives… I had never been somewhere this unknown to me and I am afraid of it. Scared beyond reason. Displaced.”

Rose didn’t respond, waiting for me to finish. “But I need to be here, I can feel it in my bones!” I looked to her. “I need you to teach me Rose.”

“Teach you?”

“Teach me how to navigate this place. I cannot name a single part of this city, and I can’t trust anypony else.”

I pinned her with my gaze, equal parts piercing and pleading, “I only got you to help me Rose Bush. Please… help me.”

She was stunned for a long moment before nodding. I sighed and relaxed slightly. I hadn’t needed someone to tell me anything since I was 30, and now I was once again dependent. Uncomfortably so in this case.

“I… I can Hag! Don’t worry! I am sure that we can learn about Manehatten so well that we can travel it like we lived here!”

I jerked. “We can learn…?” I asked in a hollow voice.

Rose nodded, ignorant of my growing apprehension. “I’ve never been here either, so we can learn together! That way you won’t feel helpless!”

To my eternal shame I whimpered and leaned on her like a foal needing comfort. It took her several hours of holding me before I was my old self once more.

Do try to understand. That place was as far from where a hag could be found as it could be. I was somewhere else, and everything that I found familiar was not in Manehatten. I stood in a place larger than I could imagine just by looking out of the window (which also gave me vertigo. How were we so high!?) and I knew nothing. It was even worse than the white places. At least they were empty and didn’t look so endless.

Fortunately Rose was not entirely unlearned and got me a map which didn’t help and a guidebook which did. The map only emphasized the vast size of the place, as if giants had built it instead of ponies. The guidebook cut it into manageable sections that I could understand and know far easier. Rose suggested that I plan a route for us to take tomorrow and commented that I might enjoy the park. I set to the task, determined to find my path in this place before too long.

Ever since arriving there had been an itch. I was on the track of something, and it was here in this impossible place. I would learn its secrets and travel it like I traveled my woods. I would find what nagged at me so, and hopefully it would be one of the elements that I searched for. I would not be defeated by that place.

Disheartened, discouraged, lost, and even terrified by, but not defeated.

*** An hour before Hag and Rose had arrived at Manehatten***

“Come along girls, get ready!”

“Jus hang on fer a minute Rarity!”

The six bearers of the elements, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, as well as Spike and the CMC stood upon Ponyville’s train platform, preparing for a long trip. Rarity had hit upon this idea that a change of scenery was in order after the mess that the girl’s interview had left behind. To say that it was chaotic would be like saying that bears didn’t really care if you kicked their cubs.

Most of them were upset and unsettled by the new revelations from their sisters. Tricked by me to believe that they had been injured, or actually attacked by timberwolves? Tied to the bed? Made to eat some random plants that I had dug up? Rarity had just about fainted and Applejack was certain of my evil. The rest of them were undecided yet, Rainbow erring evil and Pinkie and Fluttershy hoping that I wasn’t. Twilight couldn’t make a decision.

Rarity had suggested that they leave the mess behind for a few days and go to Manehatten to calm down and let tempers cool before continuing. The new information had caused some anger amongst the group, and they had agreed, needing a vacation from finding out shocking things about me.

The relationships between Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow and, respectively, Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were straining under this new information and taking some time to forget their troubles and remind themselves how they cared for another would help them all Rarity thought.

So she had gotten ten tickets to Manehatten the same day and got her friends together so that they could spend three days in the city, away from the headache inducing work that Twilight had produced.

“This really is a good idea, even if it is Manehatten.” Rainbow remarked as she boarded with Scootaloo.

Rarity nodded happily and then frowned when she spotted Twilight lugging around several notepads and a bag full of quills and books.

“Darling! I thought I said to leave that behind. We are supposed to be relaxing, remember?”

Twilight looked up. “Oh! I did Rarity. This is my element research, so that when we retrieve the elements we can fix them!”

Rarity was less pleased that Twilight had found a way to bring work with her, but it wasn’t about me so she let it pass and boarded last, eager to see the big city again.

And so, in good spirits and a determination that this was going to go well, they traveled toward my own location. It was an… interesting few days to say the least.

Finding Happiness 3

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*** At Canterlot castle, when Luna awakes***

Luna groaned and shifted in her chamber, slowly regaining consciousness. I had sent her from my head as hard as I could, and she had taken some time to recover from her experience before returning to herself.

Based on the morning light, she assumed that she had only been asleep for the one night. She climbed to her feet, wincing as she tried to recall what had happened; I had been the single worst thing she had ever found in the dream realm, ever, and she found herself unable to remember. Nopony else had had my lessons, and nothing had actually fought her, not really. Not in a dream, and definitely not like I had.

The first notion that something was wrong was when the guards at her door jumped when she exited and one had run off as the other went to her aid.

Celestia had been there soon after, filled with concern and worry, and had helped a wondering Luna to the breakfast table.

“Why art thou acting so strange Tia?” Luna asked her sister, “We have only been slumbering a night.”

Celestia looked to her with worried eyes, “You have been asleep for three days Luna.”

Luna dropped her tea.

“I had feared… What happened my sister? Why did you not return from your search for so long?” asked Celestia as Luna stared at nothing, mouth open.

“I found Hag,” she said after a moment, staring at nothing, memories beginning to return to her.

“Yes?” asked Celestia, hope rising.

“I entered her dream. She was in a forest, and I demanded that she stand down. But before I could pinpoint her location in the physical realm she attacked me.”

“And you fended her off?” Celestia said, certain that her sister had been more than a match for me. She took a sip of tea.

“I could not!” Celestia spat out her tea. “It was as though she knew every powerful and dangerous beast in all of Equestria, and many more I did not recognize! Such perfect control over her mind that even I! I! Princess of dreams was defeated and expelled!”

“But how Luna?”

“Twas as if I invaded Tartarus and fought every creature contained within. As I fell from their numbers she bucked me, bucked me from her mind. As I was expelled she called out, ‘If you try that in life I’ll rip you into three equal parts!’”

Luna appeared traumatized and Celestia was horrified. I was swiftly turning into a pony shaped monster in her eyes.

“Luna…” Celestia draped a wing over her sister.

“I… I don’t think I can…”

“Shh, I am here for you my sister.”

The pair leaned on each other for a while, Luna now terrified of me and Celestia angrier than she had ever been. I had broken the elements, undone Discord’s redemption, and now, I not only defeated Luna, but I had threatened to kill her if I ever saw her again!

“Sister?” asked Luna as she remained under her sister’s wing.

“Yes Luna?”

“I… I don’t think I will try to find Hag in the dream anymore, if that is all right with you. I don’t even want to go there now…”

That settled it for Celestia. Outwardly she only nodded, the same calm expression on her face. In her mind, she was now set to a course of action. No imprisonment or banishment for me, I was going to BURN for harming Luna so badly that she not only ran from a fight, she was retreating from the dream realm itself!

“Take as much time to recover as you wish my dearest sister. I can manage without your capable help.”

“Thank you…”

When the morning sun broke into our hotel room I awoke, stretched, panicked at my surroundings and woke Rose with my scream, and then prepared breakfast after wandering about and checking every part of our room a little like a cat.

“Are you sure that you’re O.K?” asked Rose again as she entered the kitchen, rubbing her eye with a hoof.

I was feeling better. This place was bigger than most homes I had seen and was trying to focus on the pleasure at being able to walk about such a large set of rooms: a bedroom, an entry hall, a large kitchen, and a water closet with the strangest seat I had ever seen. I resolved to ask Rose about that later.

“I am growing less afraid Rose, don’t worry. Do you like your bread toasted or cold?” I asked, selecting several slices. Bread that came already cut, a marvel that Rose had brought with her. I love it.

“Toasted.” She went to have a seat before stopping, smelling smoke. “Hag do you…”

She trailed off seeing me. I had never seen a toaster before and wasn’t using it to cook the bread. I had instead set some moss atop the counter, lit it afire and was using the flames to unevenly burn the toast I held in my mouth. I had done so many times before with my hands and the use of my mouth had come easily to me after a few dropped pieces of toast and a burnt chin.

“Hag!” she screamed.

I pulled the toast from the flames, pushed the moss to the floor and stomped on it until it extinguished. Another benefit of hooves. “Yes Rose?”

I wondered at her horrified expression. “There is a toaster right there Hag!” she yelled as she came over to me. “What were you doing?!”

“Making toast.” I said, moving over so she could access the countertop. She pulled a metallic box from one corner.

“See this?” she tapped it.

“Yes…”

“This is a toaster. It toasts bread so that you don’t have to SET THE COUNTERTOP ON FIRE TO GET YOUR TOAST!”

I thought she was overreacting. A small fire wouldn’t harm the stone. After she calmed somewhat, she showed me how to use the toaster to my amazement, and then had another conniption when I broke the thing trying to discover how it worked. Magic apparently.

“Stay here.” She had instructed me, returning me to bed and then returning to the kitchen. I was confused, and indignant, but I was also relying on Rose. I could deal with a little disrespect from her.

She soon returned with rather nice toast topped with marigolds. Wasn’t burnt at all. We ate them as a gentle breeze blew into the room.

“I’m sorry.” She said as she munched on hers, not looking at me.

“For?”

“Yelling at you. I shouldn’t have, you don’t know any better. Forgive me?”

Pony eyes could be used to break a man I swear. I couldn’t stand seeing her oversized peepers grow even larger and wobble like that at me.

“Yes, yes I do, just stop looking like that!”

She calmed immensely. “Next time, ask before you touch something so I can explain.”

I nodded. “In that case you can tell me something right now.”

She waited. “Why doesn’t the window open?” I asked.

She looked behind her and got that stunned expression again. That was because the window was gone, and she only now noticed that the breeze was entering from the now open hole in the wall.

I had tried to open it when Rose had been busy in the kitchen and had pushed a bit hard. I had figured that it had been stuck. It had popped free, but had also fallen away. I did make sure that it wouldn’t hurt anypony before settling down again, using what little magic I had to manipulate its fall.

Rose didn’t respond to my touch so I shrugged and ate my sandwich. Lots to do that day and I needed my energy.

The lights! The sounds! The crowd!

Everything about Manehatten made Rarity happy. As the group stepped from the platform and entered the city she inhaled deeply and sighed in satisfaction.

“I have so missed this place.” she said.

Applejack looked around as she trotted next to her. “Don’t like it myself. Th city is not fer this pony.”

“Let’s just get to the hotel so I can drop off the luggage.” muttered Spike, far overburdened by the luggage of the group.

They had made their way down the sidewalk before Twilight hesitated.

What was that whistling noise?

All of them screamed, as did the nearest passerby as a window landed not an inch from Twilight’s muzzle. It shattered into countless glittering shards that sparkled in the light and made walking a hazardous affair, and by some miracle not harming any of the group.

Rainbow and Applejack looked up, holding onto their sisters to protect them while Rarity levitated Sweetie and looked horrified at the near disaster. The pane had fallen from quite high up and Rainbow almost went skyward to check on it before Applejack stopped her, grabbing onto her tail.

“What the?” Rainbow said, “Let go Applejack! I’m going to go check what happened!”

Applejack shook her head as Rarity explained.

“Dash dear, accidents happen. I am certain that this was nothing more than a quirk of fate trying to get us to realize how tense we all are.”

This got questioning looks from most of the group.

Rarity sighed. “It was random chance and nothing will come of discovering why it fell. I want to enjoy our time here, not spend it fretting over whether or not a window will drop on my head. Can we just ignore this and continue on?”

Twilight almost remarked that the window had fallen from the same hotel that they were going to be staying in but stopped herself. She realized that Rarity was trying to make everything perfect, and remarks about the window only cast a shadow over Rarity’s ability to choose a hotel wisely.

“We do need to drop off our stuff girls!” she said instead in a chipper voice, stepping around the glittering mess. “We can rest in our room and Spike is getting tired.”

They all nodded, some more slowly than others and resumed traveling, a pony already sweeping at the glass.

The lights! The sounds! The endless streams of life!

I was terrified of everything. Nothing about Manehatten made me feel safe or comfortable or happy in any way. I remained attached to Rose Bush as she walked while consulting the map.

We entered into the main room of the hotel and I looked about. More carpets, plush furniture, and everything was either gold or red, or beautifully cut wood. A massive chandelier hung from the ceiling and several ponies were present, some guests, and some workers.

Rose was too caught up in the map and I was on her other side when we passed a large group of ponies when we exited the hotel. I didn’t see them, they didn’t see me and neither of us noticed, either taken by the hotel’s elegance, or consumed with trying to find a path.

Rose and I exited into the street and I began trying to take deep breaths to steady myself. It was like my chest was being squeezed by a bear and my eyes strained to see a threat that wasn’t there, my heart beating hard and fast.

“Left, then right and straight.” Rose said, putting the map away. “We can go to the park first Hag, I’m sure you will feel better when we get there.”

“Yes, fine.” I squeaked. Even my voice rebelled, my throat constricting against my attempts to speak normally. Rose gave me a concerned look and led me onwards.

It was all a blur to me until we came to the park. Scattered trees and carefully planted bushes and flowers amidst the city. A trail winded through it, lamps along the path and benches set at nice places. A true wonder for people who loved nature.

It was dead and cold, but I knew why it was dead and cold and I did feel better. Ponies had built this, and no voice or life would be found in pony made nature.

“Like walking in a graveyard…” I muttered, for the first time since our arrival at Manehatten stepping away from Rose Bush.

“Come on Hag!” she said, “It a very nice place here and you like nature! It’s nothing so… morbid.”

I looked at her pouting at me. She was adorable.

I sighed. “Fine Rose, fine. I do like the place and it is very pretty. That better?”

She nodded happily.

We wandered through the park, enjoying the unnatural perfection of the place. Rose somehow managed to find a rose bush (it had not been there when I walked by and then she was picking blooms from the bush) and I relaxed after nearly a day spent in terror.

This place was little more than a broken toy, or an empty room, but it gave me a center I could balance on. Even if I wandered from it I would be able to sense it and that emboldened me.

It wasn’t much, but I might be able to actually travel Manehatten without turning into a ball of fear and anxiety.

After laughing with Rose at the sight of foals playing I set my mind to my search.

I walked up to a random pony. “Moment of your time sir?”

“Yes…?”

“Might you know where I can find some happiness, loyalty, or magic?”

He looked at me as though I was mad and began backing away, not looking at me. “I… uh… ask her!” he said, pointing at Rose and then rushing off.

Seemed I would need another approach. Rose trotted over to my, trying to hold in her laughter.

“Is that something you do?” She managed, “just go up and ask everypony where you can get some… happiness, loyalty and magic?”

She just about fell over in laughter as I glowered at her.

“It’s important.”

Didn’t seem to work on her, she was still laughing. I sighed. I would need to explain myself to Rose Bush and get her to help me before I got the entire city thinking me a mad mare.

“Rose!”

She got up, still giggling, “Hag?”

“I am trying to find the physical forms of those things so I can fix something. It is not a funny thing or a strangeness of my age!”

She looked at my expression, and seemed undecided if I was strange or serious or whether either or both deserved more laughter.

“But those things can’t… you don’t just pick up some happiness Hag.”

“I know that.” I said, “But I need to find it anyway. Got it on good faith that they exist.”

Rose sighed. “I just don’t know Hag. Why are you looking for such strange things?”

“I just do.” I said. “Mind helping an old mare look for something most ponies think doesn’t exist?”

She thought about it for a moment. “Is this important to you?”

“Very.”

“Then yes, I’d love to Hag. Lead the way!” she said with a happy smile.

“But we haven’t been crusading since forever!”

“And you are not going to! You got very lost last time!”

“But Rarity!”

Rarity sighed as the three fillies all gave her pleading expressions. The group was out for lunch and the three girls wanted to go play in the neighboring park. Their sisters were less than willing to see them leave their line of sight ever since they had vanished, apparently taken by me, three weeks ago.

The girls were itching to find adventure and fun times and Rarity was balancing their happiness with her minor fears. She sighed.

“Fine.”

“Yay! Thank you Rarity!” called Sweetie as all three ran for it.

“Stay close by!” she called after them.

“I’ll go and keep an eye on them Rarity, don’t worry.” Spike said as he jogged after them.

Rarity nodded, her fears lessoning. Perhaps she was just being overprotective of her younger sister. Applejack hadn’t been concerned over Applebloom wandering off and Rainbow didn’t seem to hold any fear of the girls getting hurt or taken by a pony again.

She frowned as she recalled my deception before tossing the thought away. The girls are perfectly all right and they do so enjoy rushing off on those ‘crusades’ of theirs. I’m being concerned over nothing. It’s not like they will meet Hag in the park. She thought.

I was playing hide and go seek. With a grown mare. In a hedge maze that I could see over.

I wondered why that was my life for a moment before calling out “Marco!”

“Polo!” came the response.

Bit to my left. Rose had gotten the idea that I needed something to distract me and her mind had gone to children games as the perfect way to do so. It did perk me up, but really; I was an old woman hunting for a grown mare. I probably looked ridiculous. And what or who is Marco or Polo anyway?

“Marco!”

“Polo!” came a small chorus. Seemed some foals had decided to join us. That made the game far more normal. I often played with children and I smiled.

The nearest voice had come from quite close so I cautiously stepped to the hedge. I was going to give the little thing quite the surprise.

“Got ya!” I said, the hedge jumping out of my way and I leapt forward seeing… Scootaloo.

My heart just about stopped and she was no better as I fell on her in my shock.

“Granny?!”

“Scootaloo?!”

“You’re squishing me!”

“Hag?”

“Scootaloo, what happened?!”

In the midst of the hedge maze I was soon surrounded by Rose who was confused, two stunned and rapidly smiling fillies and one extra stunned filly that was wiggling out from under me. I stood up and she got out from under me and whirled around, already smiling.

“Grandmother!” they said as they tackled me.

“Not so rough now, I’m an old mare!” I said, smiling widely as I held them closer.

“Grandmother?” asked Rose, a small smile on her face and an eyebrow raised in a questioning manner.

“Oh, they aren’t mine. Met them a while past when they got hurt.”

“So you don’t secretly have a husband and children?”

I am certain she spotted the faint look that passed over my face. The question had bit a bit deeply, but I recovered in a moment.

“Nope!” Applebloom said.

“Grandmother found us after we got hurt by timberwolves!” Sweetie said.

“She chased them off and patched us up!” Scootaloo added.

“She even went an fixed my legs!” Applebloom concluded.

“You saved three fillies from timberwolves!” Rose looked overjoyed while the fillies looked amazed at her immediate acceptance of that fact. I wondered at that.

“You really are a gift from the sky Hag!” she joined the girls in embracing me. “You saved me, and now these girls tell me you saved them!”

“It was nothing!” I protested.

“It weren’t nothin! Ya said I might not a been able ta walk again!”

“You kept us safe and happy grandmother!”

“It was awesome living with you, and even better when you kept showing us how to do stuff!”

I teared up. “But I lied…”

“Don’t care!” they all instantly said with some vigor.

I broke down in joy. I thought that they would have hated me. That they would never want to see me again. That I might never see them again.

And now they were back and they still loved me and my heart was melting.

As I began crying I embraced the girls and a rather confused and lost dragon hatchling stumbled from a bush.

“Girls? Where are… you…” he just trailed off at the sight of the girls squeezing me in happiness, misty eyed. Myself holding them close, tears wetting the girls’ manes, Rose holding onto me with a content smile.

Rose looked up at him, the only one to notice the rustle.

She carefully got off and crept over to his unmoving form.

She pushed at him. “Go on, go away, you might not be safe here.”

Spike swiveled his head to look at her. “What, not safe?”

Rose nodded, making a shushing motion. “Hag really likes dragon scales.” She whispered, “And she would want yours too. Go on back to where you came from before she sees you.”

Rose was trying to save Spike from the same fate at the teenaged dragons, even if I wouldn’t do that to Spike, even then. He was far too small for any use then, and now I would never even think about descaling him.

Spike grew concerned, but his duty still kept him there. “But the girls…”

“Are fine, I will make sure of it. Now go.”

Rose pushed him off, Spike hurrying away now that he had another to watch after the girls while he got the bearers. He had almost been hurt by a nasty pony by the name of Hag… his thoughts stopped as my name came to the forefront.

HAG! he thought, pushing his tiny feet to go even faster. He had to tell Twilight about this!

Rose turned back to us, I was finally calming down and stopped crying.

“Care to tell me the tale Hag?” she asked with a smile.

“I shall Rose.” I said. I turned to the girls, “This is Rose Bush girls, and she’s been traveling with me. Want to go to lunch with us?”

They nodded and the five of us went off. Rose had tried to explain restaurants to me, but I still didn’t really get it. Some people took you into their home and cooked for you for money was what I understood them as. It was a very strange thing, but I was feeling curious instead of scared, following Rose with a jump to my step.

We were seated and I nagged Rose. “Why was that pony wearing a strange outfit?” “Why are there so many tables, this place doesn’t look like any house to live in.” and “They want how much!?”

I knew I was being insufferable after a time, especially when the girls began giggling at my antics, so I shut up.

“Is that all Hag?” Rose asked with a sigh.

“Yep, I’m done.” I wasn’t, but I wouldn’t keep bothering her.

“Good.” She looked up, “Now you can tell me about your saving these fillies.”

So I did. I told her when I first found them, the three of them very quiet when I described their injuries and Rose looking sick and horrified. I still didn’t understand the reaction; the girls had been hurt bad, but not that bad, right?

“Bro… broken legs…?” Rose asked, looking pale.

“Pretty bad too. I got the bones in place and set them. Her legs were like broken sticks, and if somepony else had found her she might have not regained their use.”

“an when I woke up she gave me this icky thing to eat an th pain went away.”

“That was thorn vine Applebloom.”

“Isn’t thorn vine poisonous?” Rose asked, leaning forward.

“Raw it is. If you boil it, it loses the tendency to cause internal bleeding.” The fillies all gagged at that.

So I, with the help of the girls, told her the tale of the time they spent with me. The things I had made them eat to recover (Rose looked ill again) the things I had made that they had loved (she looked interested, and I thought I might make something for her) and the lessons I taught them. Which she undermined.

“Fey aren’t real!” she had insisted, the fillies insisting right back.

“They are too! And so are the… kiesterthings! Like timberwolves!”

“geistermen.” I said.

“Those! Fey are too real an they will take away unsuspectin fillies ta their place where they never get seen again!”

Rose sighed in defeat. “You shouldn’t fill their heads with tales Hag.”

I sighed. Seemed she would never believe me on that unless she actually saw a fairy.

“But you did a wonderful thing.” She said, looking up to me again, “You saved their lives and helped them recover and you should feel good about that.”

I nodded in some pride. “But why did you lie to them and their families?” she asked.

That stung. I winced and thought about it.

“Lots of reasons.” I said vaguely.

“What reasons?” Rose pressed, supported by the looks the girls were giving me. They were waiting to see what I would do and say. Their oddly large eyes watching to see what I would do. I spent a moment to think on it, and then decided.

I sighed and looked down, “They represented more than themselves.”

“What do you…”

“I’ll get to it!” I snapped, recalling my past.

“I didn’t always live in these parts. I once lived in a snowy place, very far to the north. There had been a village that I tended to, keeping them healthy and safe.”

They all nodded. At some point in time I had told them all about a hag’s duty to defend her people.

“I lived in my hut in my forest and the foals would flock to my home wanting to hear my tales, or fix some toy, or give them some treat.”

“I was happy. Until I messed up.”

The group leaned in, caught by my words as I sighed.

“I was awoken in the night and rushed to my village.” I stopped for a moment.

“And?” they asked, Rose watching me like one of the children I had just told her about.

“And it was gone. Burning. Everypony dead.”

They gasped. “I found who had caused it and fought him. My spell messed up somehow, and I later awoke in the Everfree.”

“I lived in the wood for some time fighting… nothing important. I found the girls hurt and while I would never leave a foal to its fate, I also found myself thinking about the children I didn’t save. The ones that died when I could have saved them.”

“Hag…” Rose said, tears in her eyes as she tried to contain herself.

“So when they were getting better I didn’t want them to go. They made my pain fade. It felt like I was making up for my mistake, like I was helping all those that I didn’t when I should have.”

“So I found their families and told them that the girls were nearby and that they could visit somepony else, the girls safe and recovering with them. Then I came back and told the girls that their families knew that they were with me and wished them a speedy recovery. I lied to them all.”

“I hurt them bad Rose. I thought that the girls would never want to see me again.” The three huddled closer to me, holding me tightly, eyes screwed shut.

“But now I know otherwise.” I said, smiling a faint smile and ruffling Scootaloo’s mane, just how she liked me to.

Rose was in tears from my tale, but the girls looked up to me.

“We could never hate you grandmother!” Sweetie said.

“Ya did lie, but ya were hurtin and alone!” Applebloom said.

“And you kept us like family!” finished Scootaloo. “We weren’t family, but you didn’t care! We would never hate you, even if everypony else does!”

The girls were trying to get me to sob in public again, I just knew it.

I took a deep breath. “We’re supposed to be eating girls. Perk up Rose, the past is gone and there is no use crying for what was.”

“But…”

“Rose.” I wiped at her tears and pushed her head up. “I want to see you smiling. I worked hard to get you to smile.”

She gave me a weak grin and I nodded.

“Now that’s better. Enjoy your greens and I’ll eat my cooked carrot.”

“You know girls.” Sweetie said.

“Yeah?”

“Rarity might be looking for me. It’s been awhile since we left and she would have finished eating by now.”

All three gasped and began stuffing their faces like hogs.

At my disproving look Applebloom managed to swallow an entire plate of hay in one go and looked up at me.

“Sorry grandmother, but our sisters had told us not ta go too far! We gotta get back afor they start worryin.”

“No excuse to eat like a pig. Hurry along, make sure that your families don’t worry too bad.”

I made sure to clean them, especially Scootaloo, from their mess before waving as they rushed off.

Rose smiled at me again, her eyes a bit red but happy once again. “You really would make a wonderful grandmother.”

“I would spoil the little dears rotten.”

“You would, wouldn’t you?” she hummed in contentment, looking out of the window at the girls as they ran to the park.

“You are thinking of something, aren’t you Rose?”

“I want you to be my foals’ grandmother, even if you aren’t family.”

Just about spat out my carrot. “You want me to…”

“You would be so perfect Hag! Sunny would have loved you.”

Her dead child. She was saying that her dead child would like me and that she wanted me to join her family even if I wasn’t related to her. I didn’t know whether to be touched and honored, or to tell her that she needed to be extremely cautious about such things. Family was not a trifling matter. I came to a choice fairly fast.

“I… Thank you Rose. I would love to be considered your foal’s grandmother. But keep calling me Hag, it would just be… unacceptable for you to call me mother or something.”

She nodded. “I just know that you will be perfect Hag. And I already got a mom, she lives in Grass, where I was born. You would be more like an aunt.”

“That’s not… well, I suppose it’s not too bad.”

“Then come on auntie!” she giggled as she hopped from her chair.

Or maybe it would be too bad. “Not auntie!” I called after her as I followed. “Aunt is fine, but not auntie! Sounds like achy and I don’t like that.”

She laughed and we left together, smiling.

The girls found the bearers tearing the park apart looking for them. They got quite the yelling session due to Spike telling them that they had found Hag and that I had wanted to rip his scales off.

Rose hadn’t known any better, but still, who goes around and tells people… tells thinking beings that somepony wanted to hurt them without making sure of that?

“Why didn’t ya’ll run from her?!” Applejack had said.

The three remained silent. “I can get them back to safety!” said Pinkie, putting on an air of comical seriousness as she raised her foreleg to her forehead.

Twilight thought about it. Spike had been upset, but had said that Hag had been with another pony. She also hadn’t hurt the girls and they were returned after only a short time this time. A plan occurred to her.

“That’s not necessary Pinkie.” she said after a moment’s thought.

“What in tarnation do ya mean Twi?! My little sis is runnin inta danger an huggin it!”

“She does have a point darling.”

“That’s just it!” Twilight said, confusing her friends. “Hag won’t hurt them and she trusts them! The girls can.” She stopped and looked over at the three fillies who were watching them.

“Over here.” Twilight said, trotting a short distance away.

Pinkie stayed to keep an eye on the girls as the rest followed her. “Here’s what I’m planning.” Twilight whispered to them.

“Hag won’t hurt them and she trusts them right?” she said.

“I suppose…” they murmured.

“So the girls can keep an eye on her without trouble!”

“Twilight it is far too dangerous for Sweetie to be playing at spy.” Rarity said.

“That goes for my sis too!”

“Girls! Come on! This is our best chance! We can learn more about Hag, keep track of her movements, learn about her, and then recapture her and the elements! The girls won’t even be in danger, they told us themselves and we have empirical evidence!”

Try as they might the bearers couldn’t come up with a better idea, or even a different one.

“But what if Hag knows that we know.” Rainbow said.

Twilight hesitated. “Knows what?”

“That we know she’s here, and that we’re ready to go and give her a good beating.”

“… I’ll need to ask the girls. But I am sure that it won’t matter anyway. Now, we just have to convince the girls that we like them spending time with Hag, so they don’t give it away.” Twilight said.

“We went and yelled at th mites fer days and now we need ta convince em that we didn’t mean it an don’t care if they spend time with an evil pony.” Applejack said in a sarcastic voice. “Somepony else kin do that ta Applebloom. I won’t go an lie, speccialy not ta my own little sister.”

“I can handle this Applejack, don’t worry!” Rarity said, already heading over to the girls.

“Alright girls.” She said as she approached, the three fillies clustering together preparing for another lecture.

“Your sisters have overreacted.”

The girls all looked up in shock. Had they heard that right?

“We have determined that you are correct: Hag is a fine upstanding pony and we are being quite unreasonable with you three!” Rarity threw a leg over her eyes and cried, “Just tell me you can forgive us!”

Sweetie hugged her sister and told her that she did so, Applebloom and Scootaloo mimicking her with their own sisters even if Applejack and Rainbow couldn’t look their sisters in the eyes.

The girls were overjoyed at the bearers telling them that they could visit me whenever. The three of them asked and were granted the ability to rush back to me and ask me where I was staying so that they could enjoy my presence without relying on randomly bumping into me.

I was pleasantly surprised when they returned. Their sisters had forgiven me they told me, and the girls wanted to know where Rose and I were staying so that they could visit.

Anyplace else this would have given me great concern. Forgiveness when I had done so much against them? Foolhardy to think so! This was a trick to get to me and get me when my guard was down! But the tree had forgiven me with no reason to, and I had hurt it far worse than I had hurt the bearers. So I took it as is, assuming peace had been achieved.

Rose gave them the number for our room (we were in the same hotel, which surprised us all) and they told us their own, so that I could make a visit to the girls’ sisters. Forgiven or not I was going to apologize and try to make up for the pain I had put them through.

They left happy and content, my own life looking up. I figured I could even ask them to help me heal the tree. My troubles seemed to be reducing in number and I began singing as Rose and I walked through the city. Rose had been happy because I was happy and tried to sing along. For never having heard the song until right then, and not knowing the language, she didn’t miss a single word.

Finding Happiness 4

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The next morn I was bright, happy, and ready to face the city. I woke Rose very early (sun hadn’t risen yet) and set about preparing for our trip.

My hunch had increased, and it was directing me toward the ‘shopping district’ as indicated by the guidebook. There was something for me to find there, and I would not let it pass without at least trying to find it.

Rose needed my help to get prepared because she was so tired (which caused me no end of joy. I was finally helping her and not the other way around! I left a note on my door in case the girls came calling during the day:

Dearest Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo,

I will be in the shopping district for some time, and may not return until nightfall. The door is locked, but you will find some treats left at the front desk. Just tell the pony there that Hag told him to give it to you three.

Spirits watch over you, Hag.

With that we were out into a rather crowded street. Odd considering the early hour, and it seemed as though a fair number of those ponies had been up all night. I ignored them and hurried on, calling after me to get Rose catch up with me.

I couldn’t wait to get started. Rose had given me a basic rundown of buying and selling and I was excited to try it out. Maybe I could find some regents, or even a cauldron so I could brew again; my own had been left behind in the Everfree.

In spite of the hour, a good number of shops were already open, their lights overcoming the dim light from the rising sun. I dragged Rose all through the place like I was an overexcited child, and in many ways I did feel a young girl once again. There was something to learn! And now that I had gotten used to the concept my curiosity overrode my fears of the unknown.

Rose soon perked up as the day continued, even if we didn’t have much to spend. I got us thrown out from one store by trying to sell the mare running the place some of my herbs, but we took it with a grin and Rose joking about my efforts.

It was as we were going that I stopped, sensing something. Rose hesitated behind me and gave me a questioning look.

“Why did you stop Hag?” she asked me as she came up to my front.

“There is something… it's right… nearby, I just know it!” I said, talking to myself.

Following my instincts I led a straight trail to a fairly unassuming shop front, Rose trailing after me, confused.

It did not have a glowing sign or a giant window, and only a small plague bearing the words ‘magical emporium of the strange’ over the door told me that it was a shop.

I entered into a fairly dark interior and felt right at home. One lantern with a bright flame dimly lit a place with many shelves that were covered in regents. Not too unlike my own home, but where I had plants and some bones, this place included gems, metals, and objects ranging from spoons to musical instruments.

Rose looked around in wonderment while I went to the shop keep, a brown unicorn with a faint beard and glasses.

“Good day.” I said.

He looked at me with tired eyes. “I’m thinking that you might be able to solve my little predicament.” I said.

“Perhaps… What do you need?” he asked with a tired voice.

I took hold of my pouch and dropped my dragon scales in front of him. His eyes bulged and he got a bit of life in his old bones.

“I want you to get me a needle that can pierce these. If you can, I can part with two or three of them.”

He babbled and rushed into the back. I nodded happily; dragon scales are a mare’s best friend.

It took a fair while before he, and eventually I, managed to find a metal that could pierce the scales without breaking or bending. I thanked him for his time and gave him two scales which he took reverently, a green glow covering them as they flew to a pouch behind him.

“Since we’re here anyway, perhaps you can direct me to some… oh, some toadstools?”

“Toadstools? I can get them to you by the night if you want. Just give me some place that you can pick them up and they will be there before 9:00.”

“No cost?”

“Miss, you have just shown me a bounty that I would have never seen on my own and shared it with me. For you, I would give my greatest efforts.”

I smiled at him and he smiled back.

I left my room number with him and left with Rose on very friendly terms. He was old, I was old, and we both understood in a way that most other ponies couldn’t. Not that I was interested in romance, but we could always get together over tea and talk of magic. Maybe one day I’ll go back.

“So you are going to make something from those scales. I want to see you do it, if that’s all right with you auntie.” Rose said with a mischievous grin.

I eyed her and she smiled back at me. I sighed “I can even teach you to sew if you want Rose.”

“That would be…” she trailed off, looking in one direction.

“Something the matter Rose Bush?” I asked her.

“I think I saw somepony I recognize, just this way.” She began moving in a direction and I followed her.

We soon discovered a blue unicorn stallion. His horn was a fair length, poking free from his blue-green mane. The cutie mark was a clover, at first I thought a four leafed one as that made some sense as he was playing games of chance. But my eyes spotted some oddities to it, in particular that the fourth leaf may very well be the third’s shadow. Only appearing to be lucky.

He stood on a corner and seemed to be playing a game with passerby for bits. He would toss a ball under a cup and then shuffle three identical cups at blurring speeds before asking the pony before him to select a cup. He did this for one bit at a time, and gave two bits if the pony found the ball.

I frowned. I could see his magic tipping the odds in his favor quite a bit. Most of the time the ball wasn’t under any cup.

Despite my disapproval I wasn’t going to stop him or tell anypony. Liars lived just the same as anypony else and it would be cruel to break his source of income. If somepony fell for it, it would be a good life lesson. Only fools fell for such things and it was good that they would learn without physical pain.

Rose approached him with a beaming smile.

“Honest Cloud?” she asked him, “Is that you?”

“Rose Bush?” he asked back, recognition sparking in his eyes.

The two caught each other in a hug and stepped back.

“I haven’t seen you since I was a colt!” Honest said.

“I know! I’ve been living in Leaffall, where have you been?”

“I’ve been wandering, plying my trade and going from city to city. Been wanting to settle down recently really, but I just haven’t got the savings.”

“How is the magical ball business? Doing well I hope.”

If the pony even knew what a magical ball was I’d eat a hat. And a name of Honest, playing a game like that. It was simply ridiculous.

“Niche market I’m afraid, just don’t get the customers like I used to. How about yourself?”

“Ah…” she trailed off for a moment and just for a moment Honest seemed worried, but Rose bounced back. “I’ve been down, but I got better! I met Hag…” she looked around for me before beckoning me closer.

I walked up to her. “I met Hag! She’s a wonderful pony and we’re traveling together!”

“Nice to meet you miss. The names Honest, Honest Cloud, purveyor of magical balls that allow great clairvoyance and scrying spells, seeing faraway places with ease for a low, low price!”

I didn’t smile back at him. That was not a greeting. I didn't like him already.

“Hag. Just Hag.” I said rather coldly and he struggle to keep smiling at my neutral face.

“How’d you get to know Rose?” I asked him, still keeping my voice cold and heartless.

Rose looked at me oddly, having never seen me act like this before. “We met at school miss… ma’am." he said, looking awkward. "We grew up together in Grass, best friends when we were foals. I had to move when I was sixteen, and haven’t seen her since.” he told me.

I hummed. I very neutral noise which worried him and Rose got in front of me. “Why don’t you take some time off and visit us?” Rose asked him, “We have a room in the Trotting Hotel just near the train station!”

“I would love to. Anything to catch up with an old friend!”

He made the mistake of looking at me and winced at my calm and collected expression. I didn’t like him and he could tell. Very easily too, like he was used to reading faces. An odd ability for a salespony, but I suspected that he either sold ‘magical balls’ as a side business or that he didn’t at all.

I really didn’t like him coming with us, but Rose seemed unable to tell that I didn’t like him, only that I was scaring him.

As we made our way back she stood between us, trying to keep an upbeat conversation with Honest which I would cut dead with some comment.

“Enjoying Manehatten?” she would ask.

“Very much so! Friendly ponies, so much to see, so much to do!”

“I should think so, with a mind like yours.” I would say.

And that would get him to stop and hang his head in a mix of fear and worry. Rose just got confused, but she never confronted either of us about this behavior.

When we got back to the hotel room I left the two to get reacquainted and went to the kitchen to try to cook something for us.

I looked about and began gathering some ingredients as my mind worked.

Rose and Honest had known one another since they were foals, best of friends from the same town.

Honest had left when he was sixteen and I would bet my scales that Rose had been his age or slightly younger.

Rose met her husband when she was seventeen, and had moved to Leaffall at nineteen, staying there for years while Honest had traveled throughout his life, selling magical balls or tricking ponies with his games or something else. I suspected it went beyond two bit tricks; he was good at lying, and good liars never stayed small.

Rose’s husband had died four years ago. Honest was fairly handsome. I myself had encouraged Rose to have more foals, and to meet another husband. When she had made me a grandmother for her foal, she had said foals, not foal, implying that she did intend to have more children.

She knew Honest, didn’t grieve over her loss anymore and seemed very friendly with him, and he liked her as well, at least on the surface.

He was a liar and a cheat, but I would give up my afterlife before I got in their way. I wasn’t going to help as per say, but I would encourage them.

A little love never hurt anypony, but if Honest broke her heart…

If he did that I was going to make sure that he lived. For a long time. Without legs. In pain. Lots of pain. Such pain that he would forget his name and beg me to end his suffering.

I had finished the preparations and set the dough to rise on the countertop. My bread rose by itself, without needed to be set next to a fire. I do freely admit it was bad compared to what Rose could buy, but it was free. I still had some more berries to stuff it with and some other goodies that I got from the Everfree that I couldn’t name.

Romance is a closed book to me, but I knew that a good meal and being alone went a fair ways.

I looked into the bedroom. Rose was sad, being held by Honest as she talked to him. Probably telling him about her tragedies. I would have told her not to, but it seemed to be working; Honest had an honest empathy about him that I approved of.

I would leave them alone and find something to do while my bread was rising. I was going to need to ask Rose how I would bake it without a fire or pot (I did not know about the stove or oven at the time), but that could wait a few hours.

I crept into the hall and noticed my note. Somepony (and I knew who) had added that they wished me luck and would be in their own room for dinner in a poor scrawl. It was about 4:30. Early for dinner, but I could always visit the girls and enjoy dinner there.

I could apologize to their families and mend broken fences. No time like the present to burn the bad in us my teacher had always said. So I turned and began climbing the stairs. Rose had gotten a room on the fifth floor, and the girls lived on the ninth. I wasn’t about to operate that terror that Rose called an elevator either. How many stairs could it be?

Too many stairs, that’s how many. I was exhausted by the time I crested the last agonizing step and entered another hall. I took a long moment to get my breathing under control and let the pain in my limbs to fade before continuing.

The girls had given me room number 926, which turned out to be the farthest door from the stairs. I took a deep breath and knocked on it and waited.

Spike opened the door, opened his mouth and then slammed the door shut, a faint click coming to my ears (my hearing was very good before, and better now that I could swivel them). A faint commotion could be heard, followed by a door slamming shut. I wondered what was happening and why Spike was there. I had figured that it was just the girls and their sisters.

*** In the room ***

“She’s here!” Spike yelled as he retreated back into the main bedroom. The group had a suit, a room far larger than my own.

His call had been met with surprise and instant worry. The girls were not in the room, having gone done to get the free food in the lobby and the bearers were abruptly paranoid about my visit to their room. They did not know that the girls had told me that they were staying here.

“She’s here?!” Rainbow yelled, leaping into the air slightly.

“Everypony calm down!” Twilight said, looking anything but calm. How had I found them? Why was I here? Her brilliant mind soon came to an easy solution.

“Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy and I are going to lock ourselves in the bedroom. Rarity, you and Applejack stay here and talk to her.”

“Us?!”

“The girls must have told her where they were staying and if she sees ponies that aren’t related the girls she might get suspicious! You need to convince her that we aren’t here!”

“But.” was all Rarity managed before she and Applejack were left alone, the bedroom door slamming shut.

“Seems were gonna have ta Rares.” Applejack said.

Rarity sighed before freezing. The front door was opening and Spike had just locked it. Had I broken in?

*** Just outside the room ***

“Thank you girls, I think I went and spooked the drakling.”

“Spike must be a scardy cat, cause you’re not scary at all granny.” said Scootaloo as the fillies opened the door for me.

I chuckled. “I can be scary.”

“You are a scary as that clown wig mayor mare wears on nightmare night!” Sweetie said.

I just smiled as we began entering the main room, “Oh yeah? What about this then?”

Rarity was prepared for anything when she had heard the door open and most of her fears faded when the fillies had come into view. They must have let Hag in with their room key she thought, both her and Applejack calming down.

Then the girls turned around and screamed, rushing behind the couch and causing Rarity and Applejack to jump. I entered the room smiling with sharp teeth, my mane flying around me as my eyes glowed green and blue. The same trick I pulled on the village girls, a simple use of magic that I could manage even in the city, far from my sources of power.

I was keeping it going because I was playing with the girls. I knew playful screaming when I heard it, but the bearers didn’t. I turned to look at the petrified Rarity and Applejack, Rarity ready to faint and Applejack unable to even move.

My face snapped back to normal, but both ponies were certain: I was no pony, but a monster that looked like one. They assumed that my scary face had been my real face.

It would have gone rather poorly if the girls hadn’t acted.

“It wasn’t that scary grandmother!” Sweetie called out, unwilling to actually see if I was normal once more.

“She’s normal.” whispered Applebloom rather loudly as she peeped from their hiding spot.

Scootaloo appeared over the couch’s back and smiled. “That was awesome!” she yelled, hopping over the couch.

The trio walked back to me, chattering about how I had been scary, not been scary, and how they wanted to do that. The simple happiness that they spoke to me with went a long way to calming the bearers down, and had stopped Rainbow from breaking the wall down to protect them.

I was still looking at Rarity and Applejack and felt slightly guilty. I had scared the fur off them.

“Rarity, Applejack.” I said getting their attention.

“I just wanted to say...” They waited for something horrible. I fought myself for a few moments before managing to continue.

“I’m... sorry.” The very first time I had ever managed to say that word.

“I… Could you repeat that dear?”

“I’m sorry.” I walked over to them, the girls trailing behind me, remaining quiet.

“I shouldn’t have lied about the girls and I’m sorry about that. I really should have thought twice before using my little trick to play with the girls too.” They didn’t think that it had been a trick, but didn’t say anything.

“And I am really sorry for giving you that black eye Applejack. You were trying to grapple me at the time, but I apologize anyway.”

“Can I hear forgiveness from the ponies themselves?” I asked. I was doing well, but apologizing was difficult and near painful for me then. I was doing very good; normally I would never have apologized, nor admitted that I did something wrong, but I was struggling, and they could tell.

Applejack was nigh incapable of responding, her thoughts tied in knots. Rarity was better, but not by much.

I had come to their room, scared the girls silly, and now I was apologizing for my various misdeeds. Neither could really tell what my slight strain meant, and that worried them. Applejack desperately wished that she could tell if I was lying, but her perfect skill seemed flawed in my presence, or so she felt at least. She thought I was telling the truth, but both ponies were certain that I was trying to deceive them.

Applejack also didn’t enjoy being reminded of the injury she had sustained. It was mostly a blow to her pride that I had overpowered her so easily, but it also reminded her that I was no simple old mare.

“That’s perfectly all right darling.” Rarity said after a brief silence. “You just have us a bit… spooked after that dreadful face you put on. Of course we forgive you! Don’t we Applejack?”

Applejack muttered something incomprehensible, lowering her head. Rarity pushed her to the side and stepped in front, giving me a rather fake smile.

I just figured that they were trying to forgive me. I had scared them, which explained the stilted behavior, and I had hurt them pretty bad with my lie. It would just take some time for the hurt to heal, and my being there would help them with that I figured.

“Thank you Rarity. I have some spare time, and I thought I might join you seven for dinner if you are having it anytime soon.”

“You are most welcome to dine with us miss… Hag.” She still hadn’t gotten used to my name. “Seven?” she asked worriedly.

“Applebloom has her family, but she told me that it was just her sister on this trip. Sweetie has only one sister, you, Scootaloo idolizes Rainbow Dash and the little dragon opened the door at first. I figured the seven of you came for a trip to the city. Am I wrong?”

Rarity was a master at the social battleground. Even if I was unaware that I was breaking her delicate web of deception.

Her eyes darted exactly once and then she laughed slightly. “Rainbow was unable to be here I’m afraid, tied up in Wonderbolt business. Scootaloo came with us two, and Spike is feeling ill so it’s just us five for dinner.”

“Wonderbolt?” I asked which got both to act more normally.

“Ya havn’t heard of th Wonderbolts?” asked Applejack, slightly dazed.

“They are only the best, fastest, most awesomeest flying team in Equestria!” Scootaloo said. “Rainbow joined just a few months ago and she. Is. AWESOME!”

Scootaloo really loved them, whatever they were. The other girls seemed curious and questioning, looking at their sisters with wondering expressions. Rarity hissed at Applejack and led me to look out the massive window that their room boasted as Applejack had a brief, but tense talk with the fillies that I didn’t hear.

She told them that I wasn’t supposed to know that anypony but them were here, and when they asked why she told them that it was for a surprise which got their support rather easily. For not being able to lie, she was fairly good at lying in truth.

So I joined them for dinner soon after, wondering what ‘air conditioning’ was and why it made such a racket. It sounded like somepony being restrained from rushing into the dining room.

I ignored it. Some houses had dogs that never shut up, so perhaps ‘air conditioning’ was a dog in a room. Wouldn’t be the oddest name amongst the ponies. I just enjoyed the cake that Rarity had produced and the salad that Applejack had made. As well as several cupcakes. The banging seemed to get much louder for a short time every time I ate another cupcake, but I couldn’t help it. They were delicious.

A short time later and I left happy and filled with sugar, the girls volunteering to operate the elevator for me so I wouldn’t have to travel the stairs again.

Rarity waited until they had left before proceeding to the bedroom and calling all clear.

The door just about burst off its hinges as Pinkie lunged and grabbed onto Rarity with a wail of ‘cupcakes!’ the other bearers following her with tired expressions.

“Why is Pinkie sobbin?” asked Applejack as Rarity desperately tried to get Pinkie off of her.

Twilight sighed. “It seems Pinkie can tell when her cupcakes are being eaten and we had to restrain her before she could tip Hag off. Everything went well? Rainbow got really worried after we heard screaming.”

“Hag’s got another face.” Applejack said as Rarity got Pinkie off of her.

Rarity looked over. “It was truly terrible Twilight! She had fangs and her eyes glowed like a timeberwolve’s! Her mane almost seemed alive! I am never going to forget that visage for the rest of my days!”

“Did she threaten you two?” Twilight asked as Fluttershy cowered from the description.

“No, she didn’t.” Rarity said, suddenly normal again. “In fact she made a point of apologizing for lying to us and for hurting Applejack. She even asked us to pass on her apologies to Rainbow for hurting her too. But that FACE!”

As the rest of the girls gathered around a theatrical Rarity, Twilight rubbed her head to stem the coming headache.

“Then why did she show you that face?” Twilight murmured, eyes shut tight in her thoughts, hooves rubbing her head.

“She said that she had been playin with th girls.” Applejack said, looking doubtful, “An the girls seemed ta be happy, but I’m jus not sure Twi. She seemed honest when she said sorry, but I jus can’t be sure anymore. She asked after th rest of ya’ll too, seemed that she expected us all ta be in th same place.”

“Its fine Applejack, nopony is blaming you for your difficulty. And it is possible Hag knows that we travel in a group most often.” Twilight said. “But we need to find out more about Hag, her reasons, and her abilities, and soon. I can’t come to a decision like this.”

“There’s nothing to be decided Twi!” yelled Rainbow, her wings flapping in anger, “Hag’s just some kinda monster that looks like a pony who lies a lot when Applejack can’t tell if she’s lying or not because she’s an evil monster! End of story.”

“Any illusion can cause the same face Rainbow. And you can’t prove that she is lying, and I really don’t think she knows that Applejack can’t tell that she is lying. Applejack’s ability has always been a secret, and she hasn’t had to use it much, which may mean it might not always be perfect for some perfectly normal reason or another. Only we know about it anyway, so Hag can't possibly be doing something to counter it.” Twilight said.

“And the girls are happy, right? They aren’t afraid of her.” Fluttershy said in her quiet way.

“That’s what I am concerned about.” Rarity said, “Twilight? What if Hag is putting on a deception so that she can get my sister as some HOSTAGE when she finally does show her true colors?! I don’t want Sweetie to be caught by a monster, but I don’t want to tear her away from a pony she likes a lot without certainty! And we just don’t have certainty, we have doubts and questions.”

Applejack looked at Rarity and sighed. “I know what she means. Applebloom really cares fer Hag fer some reason. My little sis might be in danger, but I can’t jus take her away; she’d hate me fer it!”

Twilight looked to her two friends with pain in her heart. The girls were the best way to learn about Hag, but her friends were right; they were in danger if I was an evil pony, if I was a pony. Some monsters could look like ponies and were known for lying a lot. Changelings came to mind, but the others didn’t know about other examples, and Twilight didn’t want to worry Rarity and Applejack further.

“I… The girls are the only way we might see Hag in an honest light.” she said, hanging her head. “But I cannot force you to do what you don’t want to the same way you don’t want to force Applebloom or Sweetie to do what they don’t want to.”

“I just don’t know. Is Hag lying? Is she a bad pony? Are the girls safe, or are they tricked so that Hag can use them against us? I just don’t know!” she said as she shook her head, the entire group feeling caught between two choices and being unable to tell which the correct one was.

“I know what you can do.” Spike said.

Twilight looked over at Spike. “You could ask the princess what to do. She would know, right?” he said.

“Spike.” Twilight said, walking over to him.

“Yeah Twilight?”

She picked him up and squeezed him. “You are the best assistant that I could ever have. Why didn’t I think of that!? Celestia would know what I need to do! Spike!” she let the hatchling go, “Find some paper so that we can send a letter!”

I pushed the door to my own room open and went inside, the girls following me. I walked down the hall into the bedroom and stopped in the doorway.

Rose and Honest were kissing. Lit by the setting sun behind them.

I stared for a second, and then I remembered the girls. They were just behind me, whispering together. I pulled all three into the kitchen in a single swift motion.

“Were they kissing Grandmother?” asked Sweetie.

“Are they special someponies?” asked Applebloom.

“I don’t know girls, but they might be. Now don’t go telling your sisters that you saw a couple of ponies kissing in Hag’s room, understand?”

They nodded. “Good, now wait here.”

I went back to the bedroom, took a breath and then stepped into the room with purpose.

“I need some help making the bread Rose!”

She nearly hit the ceiling and whirled, blushing bright red, Honest not much better.

“Hag!” she gasped, choking a little, “I didn’t hear you!”

“Just get in here and show me how I’m supposed to bake without a fire.”

She followed me in, greeted the girls and introduced them to Honest who seemed to like them. She also showed me the oven and seemed very happy that I wasn’t mentioning her earlier display of affection. The girls weren’t as careful.

“Mr. Honest?” asked Sweetie.

“Yes?”

“Are you special someponies with Rose Bush? Cause you were kissing earlier and my sister says that only special someponies do that.”

I giggled slightly as Rose and Honest turned bright red, Rose trying to pretend like she hadn’t heard Sweetie.

“I… I mean… You shouldn’t ask ponies questions like that!” Honest said.

“Why not?” Sweetie asked in perfect innocence and I decided to stop her before Honest put his hoof in it.

“It is considered rude Sweetie. You don’t ask lovebirds that question, and you are too young to think about things like that yet. Goes for you two too.” I said, looking at Applebloom and Scootaloo.

“Yes grandmother.” they chorused.

“Now the bread isn’t going to be ready until tomorrow, so get going back to your sisters before they worry again.”

I led them out and then returned to the kitchen. “So are you two getting close to husband and wife?” I asked Rose abruptly.

“Hag! You just finished saying that that was rude!”

“For foals. Old mares get a pass and I am supposed to be your aunt. So tell me you two. Are you feeling like having foals together?”

Honest gagged and Rose stuttered. It seemed that they were fairly shy ponies.

“I can always break out the sleeping bag…”

“Hag!” screamed Rose.

“I get it, I get it, I’ll stop now. No need to get your tail in a knot Rose.”

Honest was gone soon after eating with us, the entire dinner quiet and only punctuated by me asking simpler questions. Rose was humiliated by my questions and confronted me about them as we got into bed that night.

She didn’t understand my own culture. Such things were far more open amongst my people and I made sure to tell her that it was nothing to be embarrassed about. The faster she could confront her feelings and get Honest to marry her, the better in my mind.

Even with my explanation she didn’t feel comfortable and had asked me to never do such again. Through all of my life I didn’t change myself for anything or anyone. But Rose was… special. She didn’t know the deeper meaning of my agreeing to her request. I would not have done that for anyone else, not even on threat of death.

Even then, she meant a lot to me.

*** At Canterlot castle ***

Celestia was just retiring to her quarters when Twilight’s letter appeared to her. She snatched it up, wondering why her student had sent her a letter, as one was not due from her.

Dear Celestia,

The girls and I decided to take a vacation in Manehatten due to the trouble and tensions over Hag. It was while we were at the city that the girls found Hag, and I got them to keep an eye on her seeing as how Hag likes them and might give us an unbiased opinion of her.

But I cannot keep this up. I can’t come to a decision as to whether or not the fillies should keep putting themselves into danger that I’m not even really sure exists to discover more about Hag. We even had her approach, and despite her meeting with Rarity and Applejack, I cannot tell if Hag is an evil pony and my friends are divided on the subject.

Spike suggested that I write to you so that you could guide me in this. So what should I do princess? Should the girls keep observing, or should we pull them back even if they really like being with Hag? Should we confront her at all, or wait and observe from a distance?

Your confused student,

Twilight Sparkle.

The captain of the guard, Shining Armor, jolted when Celestia came to him so late. He was the brother of Twilight, a white unicorn stallion with a shield as his cutie mark, resembling Twilight’s own star pattern.

“Princess!” he said as she came to him.

“Assemble the guard Shining Armor. We are going to Manehatten, immediately.”

Finding Happiness 5

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I woke when the sun rose, Rose Bush waking with me and we ate breakfast the same as any other day. We got prepared, I made a path through the city to follow and we set off, Rose carrying her bags to her confusion. I had a nagging feeling that we might need them for some reason, and told her to bring them with us.

We met Honest Cloud in the lobby. He claimed coincidence, but I knew better. He had been waiting for us, or more accurately, for Rose. Rose was happy to see him again. I was happy that she was happy, so I did my best to hide my dislike of him.

We all traveled together, the trip soon becoming courting between Rose and Honest. We went to the monuments of the city, the massive structures filling me with awe, far more so than my companions. Honest was… might have been an accurate guide, telling us about the history and meaning of the various statues and points about the city.

We spent all day wandering about the city. I was certain then; no element was in Manehatten.

The sun was setting when Rose overheard the nearby ponies gossiping.

“Hag! I think that the princess is coming to Manehatten!” she had said, delight in her voice. Honest perked up and seemed interested.

I stopped. “The princess?” I asked.

“Princess Celestia might be coming here today, I heard a few ponies talking about it. She was seen with her guard by some Pegasi and they might arrive very soon! We should go see!”

Her mind was entranced by Celestia, Rose having never really seen the pony that ruled over her. To Rose and Honest, Celestia was… a perfect being, a kind ruler, somepony who was an honor to even see, much less meet in person. They were both eager to see her, as would be anypony else.

My mind reminded me of Discord’s stoning. Of the time I spent locked up in that cave, slowly dying. Of the power that could incinerate me in an instant. I did not want to see Celestia and my instincts screamed that if I did it might be my last sight. But how was I going to tell Rose that?

I though hard, trying to think of some excuse.

“If she is coming we can see her more clearly from the woods outside the city.” I claimed after a few tense moments, at least for me. If we could get there I could… escape with Rose and Honest. Hopefully without having to explain anything.

Rose looked unconvinced. “That’s some ways out of Manehatten Hag. Are you sure?”

“There wouldn’t be a crowd. And I would get nervous in a crowd.”

I wasn’t lying, I would grow nervous amongst the vast number of ponies that would flock to her. I would be far more nervous over Celestia seeing me, but that didn’t have to be said.

Rose looked concerned. “If you feel that way Hag, we can. I don’t want you to get displaced again or something.”

So we went, Honest following after us. Fortunately the woods were not too far from the city, and Rose did get to see the tiny figure of the princess riding on her golden chariot drawn by two Pegasi in golden armor. There were lots of ponies in golden armor with her. Far too many for a normal visit. I was then certain she had come for me.

I got to work. Hags can ask the forest for many things, but the hardest gift to ask for or even use is travel. To go from one point to another without needing to walk the intervening space. The channeling would take some time and would be fairly noticeable, but my spell would be easier to explain to Rose than would Celestia’s wrath.

I worked slowly, intent on not getting us trapped somewhere desolate. Rose and Honest spoke with one another, but I wasn’t paying attention. I needed to concentrate on my spell; if I messed up the channeling we could end up anywhere. If I did so badly enough, it would kill us all. The exact nature of the travel was very, very delicate and I had to concentrate very carefully so as to get everything just right.

Rose perked up. “Is that..?”

Honest leaned forward, squinting into the distant city. “Is that Princess Celestia and the elements of harmony rushing this way along with a dozen guards? I… think… so.” He seemed confused.

Rose got flustered, nervously stepping in place, glancing around her. “What? I mean… we, we’re nothing special! I’m just a normal pony!”

“Hag’s kind of special,” Honest teased, looking over to me, “Maybe they all desperately want to meet her.”

He stopped smiling at the sight of me working in a near panic. I didn’t really care about accuracy right then, I wanted to not be there anymore.

Rose looked over. “Hag? What are you doing?”

“Saving my sorry hide.” I said, frantically collecting the power. I was almost done, but they were coming up to us rather fast.

“What do you mea…?”

“No time!” I yelled, striking the earth a few times in a haste born of near panic, completing the ritual.

I heard something from the approaching group, but they were too late. With a great heave I threw Rose, Honest, and I into the spell, one extra being managing to get in before we were gone.

Celestia had landed, found the bearers, raided my room, and had discovered my magical signature in only a few minutes, both she and her guard practiced and perfect at directing and controlling the crowd of ponies that neared her, or at least tried to. It had been a whirlwind of activity, but she managed to tell them about her own opinion about me. It wasn’t a good one.

They were running at us at full speed, trying to get to us as fast as possible. They thought I had hostages in Rose and Honest, and they could tell that I was traveling as they saw me.

“Stop!” yelled Twilight, seeing my spell taking form. I was escaping again and she was desperate to stop it, but unable to due to the distance and small time before my group had gone.

“Pinkie!” shouted Rarity as the pink mare abruptly took on a turn of speed normally reserved for arrows.

She had blurred forward to jump within my spell at the very last moment, the others slowing to where we had just been standing, frustrated.

Applejack stomped. “She got away again! An with Pinkie!”

“Pinkie ran after her dear, she was not abducted by Hag. Perhaps she might even capture her.” Rarity said.

“Yeah! Pinkie is a nightmare when she’s chasing somepony!” Rainbow added. “She’ll get Hag and bring her back before Twilight can even track the spell!”

“I do not think she will be returning.” Celestia said, her voice filled with concern. The others turned to her as she turned to Twilight, the purple alicorn’s head lowered and her horn glowing with violet light.

Twilight held a desperate expression, but as time went on she grew more and more worn and depressed. At the last she sat down, head held low as her horn ceased glowing.

The others watched her, growing very worried over Twilight’s sudden depression.

Rainbow approached her nervously. “You can’t track them Twi? Pinkie can find her own way back, don’t worry!”

“Pinkie Pie isn’t coming back.” Twilight said in a dull voice.

“Of course she is darling, Pinkie isn’t the sort to be captured.” Rarity said, laughing nervously while her tail swished behind her.

“She can’t be captured.” Twilight said in the same dull tone.

“Then it is as I feared…” Celestia lowered her head slightly. “Hag… she did not teleport properly, did she Twilight?”

Twilight shook her head, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. “Hag sent them without properly balancing or correcting. They will have had traveled at a great speed over a great distance, probably in pain.”

A chill settled over the other bearers, faces frozen, hoping not to hear what Twilight was going to say.

“And when… And if they managed to exit the space at all they would… they would rematerialize at approximately 200 feet per second.”

“They all would be… Pinkie would be… be…”

Twilight broke down, sobbing. Celestia trotted over to her and laid next to her even as the others found themselves in denial and shock.

They didn’t know magic, and did not fully understand Twilight’s explanation, but they all knew that that speed would not be survivable. Not even under the best of circumstance.

“But… but it’s Pinkie!” shouted Rainbow. “She can do the… thing and save herself! She would be fine! Just fine and she is coming back right now! Right now!” Her voice grew louder even as she grew angry, screaming at the woods beyond.

A gloom settled over the group, most unable to accept the idea that Pinkie had been taken from them so quickly. There was so much that they hadn’t told her, so much that they had planned, so many parties that Pinkie had told them about. It all weighted on them and they responded individually.

Fluttershy had death with death the most, having endless critters as her pets. She was greatly saddened by Pinkie’s apparent passing, but tried to overcome it so that she might help her friends.

Applejack lowered her hat over her eyes, the tough mare unwilling to cry.

Rarity was in shock, thinking about all that Pinkie had done for her, and all the plans that she had made for Pinkie.

Rainbow was in denial. She raged against the idea and refused to accept it.

Twilight mourned, her first experience with the loss of a loved one. Pinkie had been the first mare she had met in Ponyville. The mare that had confused her so many times. The mare that kept her life from ever growing dull and unhappy. The mare that kept everypony smiling wherever she went. Twilight wailed into the air, only marginally comforted by Celestia.

They thought that they had found their answer. Celestia had been adamant that I was evil, and they had been… at least satisfied to finally receive a solid answer as to my alignment. Applebloom, Sweetie belle, and Scootaloo had been left with Spike as they went to deal with me.

I hadn’t been in my room when they checked, the guards spreading out to make sure I didn’t escape. That had turned into a frantic search for me, until Celestia sensed me again, feeling the energy I had been collecting. They had raced to me, eager to bring this to an end. Eager to end my threat, once and for all.

But then I was escaping and they had felt frustrated again. I was, once more, giving them the slip, escaping to continue my plot, whatever that plot might be. Then Twilight had managed to just barely touch my magic with her own, and she had instantly realized the fatal nature of my spell. Just an instant before Pinkie had dashed into it.

And with one simple mistake, their problem was solved. I was dead, or so they thought. But I had taken two unknown ponies with me to my apparent death, as well as Pinkie Pie, and there had been nothing they would not give to change that.

Not that they could change it.

And now they wept, or comforted each other, or grew angrier than they ever had been at any mention of Pinkie’s demise. At least for a while; Rainbow had screamed her worst at Fluttershy before collapsing in greater tears than even Twilight. A dark cloud settled over them, one that was not going to fade for some time.

One that darkened when Rarity remembered all the ponies that Pinkie had befriended and realized that they needed to have a funeral. Without a body to bury.

They laid on that hill overlooking Manehatten for hours until a numb Twilight and a sniffling, exhausted Rainbow would accept being carried away from where Pinkie had left them. Their pain would continue for some time, in several cases, never healing until Pinkie would return to them.

But that wouldn’t happen for a long time.

It was green, and we floated as plants seemed to zoom past us, blurry and hard to discern. Rose flailed and Honest was yelling, or at least trying to; normal reactions of first timers. Not that I had done a good job. We were being pulled every which way as we flew uncontrollably through the place.

What we flew through was the forest. In a purely spiritual sense. In here, the forest was… ill-defined and one could travel miles without moving a single step. The exact nature of that travel and how it related to what was truly real was very difficult to discern or define, both of which had to be done so beforehand, which was why the spell took such a long time to cast. Even a small error could cause uncontrollable travel (happening), pain (also happening), and might even expel us at high speed, leaving little more than a large mess of the travelers (I put that at very likely at the time, the chance growing with each past moment).

I was less concerned over our soon to be sudden death and more concerned with the pink mare before me that seemed right at home in that place.

Pinkie Pie had somehow gotten caught in my spell, and based on her determined look had done so on purpose. She swam to me like she was born to that place and looked me in the eye.

“I want to know if you really meant those things.” she said.

“What?” I said, confused over her meaning and why she was here; I had been fairly certain that the approaching group had been too far to get into the spell, but Pinkie was right in front of me. She must have been able to sprint 100 feet in a second to be able to join us.

“What you said back in Ponyville! That I had to find something to make me happy again!”

I stared at her. “And for that you jump into something you didn’t know about? Just so you could ask me that? You might die in here you know.”

She nodded in understanding, her gaze never wavering and I felt my respect for the mare go up. She had thrown herself into the unknown just so she could get me to define something. I just said that she might die and she didn’t even blink. She was more stallion than most males I had known.

“…I did mean that Pinkie." I answered her, fully suspecting we went to our ends and that I should at least try and give her answers. "You need to find something to make you happy to make you… you again.”

“And the CMC, the girls? Do you like them?”

Why was she interrogating me while we were hurtling through a spirit realm? “Yes, I do!” I said, feeling the end growing closer. I could tell that I had messed up and that we would be dead in a few moments. The spell around us was starting to disperse, but our speed was unchanging.

“And you meant it when you said sorry about everything to Rarity and Applejack?” she asked, getting even closer so that her eyes filled my vision.

“Yes! Yes, I did! But I messed this up Pinkie! Speak with your gods because we go to meet them!”

I closed my eyes, very unhappy. I had just killed three ponies. And me, but that wasn’t as important. They didn’t deserve that end. At the time, whether or not I did didn't really come to mind.

I felt the air change as we came back into the physical realms, feeling the speed we traveled at. I expected us to explode in an instant, impacting a tree or a rock like a thrown egg. A hopefully instant and painless death.

Instead, Pinkie did… something, and we hit a squishy substance, slowed down as we passed through, and dropped from the other side, unharmed. Rose and Honest were a bit… shocked. Unmoving and unconscious to be specific. I got up and saw the… cream that we were covered in.

We had hit a massive wall of cream. In the middle of a forest.

I stared at it and Pinkie emerged from it, happily devouring it like she had a bottomless stomach. She hopped from the hole she had just made and stood next to me, smiling.

“I’ve got it!” she said.

“Got it…” I said in a faint voice.

“It needs more eggs!”

“Eggs…”

“And you were right! I did need to find something to make me happy! And I found it! Guess what it is!”

I merely stared, unable to comprehend what had just happened or most of her words.

“You Hag! I found out that you really are a good pony! I just needed to get close to you again but I couldn’t get close to you because you might have been a bad pony but if you were a bad pony then you would be scared of me since I was part of the elements and you wouldn’t have talked to me and then I wouldn’t have known if you were a good pony or a bad pony and everypony thought you were bad except the ones who didn’t but now I know that you are a good pony! And you are trying to fix your mistakes like anypony who messed up would. And helping you is going to make me happy again. Plus I am now totally lost and out of cream, so I’m going to be following you now!”

She spoke like a chipmunk that had devoured a tub of sugar. I barely caught any of her babbling, but I had heard some of it. She had found her happiness: helping me, and she was going to travel with us.

I thought this could not get any weirder. I was wrong of course, as I had reignited Pinkie Pie’s spirit.

I also thought that her friends would worry over her. She had just jumped into a rather unstable travel spell which could have easily killed her if she hadn’t… built a giant wall of cream in an instant to slow us down. Which still sounds stupid and insane to me and I actually saw it happen.

I stood in shock as Pinkie began devouring the wall again, reducing its size at a fast pace. Rose was still out of it, and Honest seemed unconscious.

She was worse than Discord. At least he is a spirit which explains his strangeness, but Pinkie was a normal pony. At least she should have been a normal pony. And she was going to follow us. I wasn’t looking forward to that, but my opinion was colored by the fact that I was going to have to explain why Pinkie was here to Rose and Honest.

After they woke up and I regained the ability to speak or move.

Finding Happiness 6

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We walked through the forest we had arrived in for nearly two weeks. Rose’s bags had been lost during our trip in my spell and we didn’t have her supplies for camping. Or warmth, which began to matter when it snowed on the fourth day. The air got colder with each passing day and we huddled for warmth during the night so none of us would die of exposure.

Honest had food in his bags but very little of it, having not anticipated our sudden excursion. We rationed it carefully, all of us suffering from hunger and thirst as we continued aimlessly.

I alone walked without the need for support, and suffering the least. I had grown up in those conditions, and the temperatures were milder than back home. I was frustrated by my inability to ease it however; the forests hold no power over the cold and no spirit was there to ask. What little I could gather was a tiny bit of strength, to help keep everypony moving in the cold, a tiny bit of life freely shared from the forest we were within.

But both Rose and Honest had grown where the weather was warm and the winter was not deadly, and suffered badly in those conditions. Rose was terrified for me, my age giving her nightmares about finding me dead and frozen one night, or that I would just fall over from hunger. She pushed herself hard, and tried to give me everything that she could to keep me warm and fed. I told her not to worry, but that only caused her to fear that I was sacrificing myself for them.

Honest was… less than happy about our situation. He did not fully recall the spell, and only knew that I was responsible. Neither he nor Rose remembered the circumstances we had left in (I breathed a sigh of relief at that) but he was mad that he was out in the woods, lost, because of me. Rose and Pinkie had told him that I must have had my reasons which got him to at least begin tolerating our situation instead of whining about it. Neither actually asked me to give any reason, which... I'm not totally sure why they didn't.

He was right though; I had dragged him and Rose and Pinkie without asking them. If Pinkie hadn’t been Pinkie, all four of us would have been smears against some tree, food for the animals. The pain of hunger and cold was my fault, but I kept that inside, not wanting to drag the group down with my own guilt.

Pinkie alone kept herself upbeat and kept Rose and Honest from just giving up as the days trailed on and our supplies dwindled. Her bouncing, energetic nature made them smile even during our plight. I suffered more because of it.

Would the mare never quiet? She was an endless fount of words and sounds and action and it grated on my nerves. I never showed this though. Rose was entertained and bolstered by the pink menace and I would not deny her that. At least not while we were lost and freezing and starving in the woods.

That day, it was snowing hard. A blizzard blocked our sight and froze even my bones, Pinkie unable to keep bouncing (she normally bounced instead of walking like the mad mare which I suspected she was) in the chill. That day was worse for the fact that we had finally exhausted our food, and one meal of my herbs and regents had caused everypony to decide that we would eat the frozen plants rather than brave those plants again.

It was still snowing as the sun began setting and I feared that we would be buried during the night. As the temperature began falling even further we walked pressed together, me and Rose in the middle despite my objections. Our group came to a sudden stop when we all heard a howl very close. The ponies with me were terrified; I couldn’t have been happier.

“Wh, wh, wh, why are you smiling Hag?” Rose asked me, teeth chattering.

“Where there are wolves there is shelter, and we could do with some shelter. Follow me.”

I hurried forward, Pinkie following me without a care, Rose trying to catch up so she could stop me and Honest following Rose in a terrified manner. I soon caught sight of the pack, timberwolves clustered together as they hunted prey. I stepped into their clearing.

“Hag!” Rose shouted, following after me in an attempt to save me, trying to get her frozen limbs to cooperate with her.

“Come!” I yelled, Rose stopping next to me as the timberwolves approached. “Sit!”

They did so. My companions were stunned and I looked back at them and smiled.

“Home! Slowly!” I said.

Several began leaving and I looked back. “Come on already! We’ll lose them otherwise!”

I hurried on, only taking the time to make sure that the others followed me before continuing.

The timberwolves led us to their den, a cavern in a rock wall. I entered into the cave, the inside slightly warmer than the air outside. The others followed me, fear evident on their faces, though Pinkie was growing curious.

The cavern was quite large, and held more than enough space for us to stay, even with the pack. A fairly flat floor and a high ceiling would help us be comfortable here. I planned on staying for some time.

“Hag, what are we doing here?” Rose hissed, watching the wolves who were resting nearby fearfully.

“The girls told you Rose. I can control these beasts with ease. We can benefit from them in several ways and we get somewhere where we aren’t being snowed on.”

“Benefits?” Pinkie asked me, totally at ease after my explanation.

“For a start, their warmth. Second, food.”

“We can’t eat timberwolves!” Honest said, lost, hungry, afraid, and confused.

“We aren’t eating them, and we aren’t even eating with them. We eat off of them.”

They gave me puzzled looks so I decided to demonstrate. I called a wolf over.

“See here?” I asked, tapping at its belly and back. “See the plants growing on it in spots and the moss on its belly?”

They nodded and then I bent and nibbled a plant from its back.

I chewed and swallowed as Rose looked slightly ill. “All of it is edible, not that bad, and the wolves are capable of acting like gardens for some of my plants. We can make a good home here, at least until this weather dies down.”

So we did, Rose trying to make the far corner of the den cozy with moss for beds, Honest helping her. Pinkie assisted me with seeding the wolves with herbs and flowers, the seeds taking root fast. Faster than normal when Pinkie planted them. I wondered about that.

During my time in the Everfree, I had discovered that the timberwolves could grow any plant on themselves, even if the plant didn’t receive water or sunlight. The plant lived off of the wolf, somehow, and so long as the wolf was alive the plant grew. Plant covered timberwolves seemed stronger and faster than their brethren too, larger and tougher than a normal timberwolf.

It took a few days before Rose would stop screaming whenever a timberwolf approached her, but she soon grew tolerant of their presence. They were not nice to lie against due to their woody skin, but when the air grew even colder we suffered to gain the little warmth they gave off. I wasn’t going to start a fire in there; we would all have died of the smoke.

A few days of Rose and Honest starving because they would not graze from the wolves’ natural bounty before my plants could be harvested. It wasn’t good food, but it was food and we ate it.

After a week it was almost like home. Rose was humming once more to my delight and Pinkie was a wizard at getting barren rock to seem warm and friendly. I spent the time carefully sewing my dragon scales together, telling my companions that it was for a surprise. Honest offered his aid whenever and wherever he could, the romance between him and Rose slowly rising to the forefront once more as we grew comfortable.

I had needed to ‘Pinkie promise’ with Pinkie to prevent her from interfering in that. I didn’t know why she insisted on her silly rhyme, but she kept her word. It wouldn’t do to have her randomness added to Rose’s life more so than it already was.

The five bearers stood back on the hill overlooking Manehatten, both Celestia and Luna in attendance as they erected a small gravestone. Pinkie’s funeral had been held just a few days ago, and they were placing her stone where she had left their lives two weeks past.

Twilight was sobbing again as Rarity retold the eulogy, adding some personal bits that didn’t make it into the public version. As the sun set they finished, leaving a modest headstone covered in flowers and party supplies.

Some had said their goodbyes to it, tearfully bidding Pinkie farewell. Rainbow, and Applejack only watched the headstone with far away eyes before leaving it. Twilight was unable to get a coherent word out at first, and they stayed for a time after, all unwilling to leave until Twilight managed to find her own words.

The hurt still pained several of the ponies there. Twilight had been unable to stop crying nearly every time she was reminded of Pinkie, which was often. Rarity and Fluttershy had recovered, but Rainbow and Applejack were unwilling to share their pain with other ponies. They kept it inside, where the loss continued to hurt them.

“She was the best of ponies.” Rarity said, looking skyward. “Always smiling and wanting to see other ponies smile too.” Then she sighed.

She went to Twilight who was sniffling. “You simply must pull yourself together darling, it does not do for the princess of friendship to be so distraught.”

Twilight nodded, but did not respond, even as Rarity hugged her.

A small way off Celestia looked to her sister who seemed… guilty.

“Is something bothering you sister?” she whispered.

“I might have saved her.” Luna said. “If I had been stronger, if I had tried harder, the element of laughter might still be with her friends.”

“You did your best my sister. Do not blame yourself. The cost was… high, but now Hag is gone. The threat is over and we can mourn her passing in peace.”

“But what if Hag yet lives? Remember Tia, Twilight said that she seemed capable of great feats and both Rarity and Applejack threw doubts on her being a pony… Perhaps she could survive what may kill anypony else.”

Celestia frowned, her sister’s words ringing true. A grain of doubt settled in her mind, but Twilight would not recover if she thought Pinkie had died and I yet lived. At least for Twilight she must believe that I had died and Pinkie had sacrificed herself to stop me. Even if Pinkie hadn’t needed to.

“Twilight will be unable to bear this if you mention such to her Luna.” she told her sister. “We shall speak of this later, when we might not be overheard.”

With Rarity and Fluttershy supporting her Twilight went to the gravestone to say her goodbyes at last. She looked at the writing: ‘Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter, and the greatest of friends’ with teary eyes.

“I’m going to miss you Pinkie.” she said, talking to the gravesite, “You were a true friend.”

“You were the first pony I met in Ponyville. The first pony outside of my family to throw me a surprise party. Even if you didn’t know me you gave me the greatest welcome a mare could hope for.” She sighed and sniffled a little, remembering.

“I’m going to miss your ‘Pinkie sense’. And your parties. I found your plans for a few of them and I’m going to make them just like you would want them.”

“But… why did you do it Pinkie? Why did you run after her? If you just hadn’t wanted to get to her then you might still be here, smiling and joking and living…”

“And… and I hope you can… forgive me.” Twilight began crying, but her voice was still strong, her head hanging down, “I could have saved you if I had been a little faster. If I had just studied harder so I could understand Hag’s spell. I watched you in there. Sensed your travel and saw you… leave the spell. And I could have stopped it! I could have! If I only did something! But I was too STUPID! I couldn’t understand in time! I still don’t, even with two weeks to study! Just too STUPID!” Tears fell freely as Twilight screamed her doubts and pains.

She calmed after a few moments, the others watching with concerned expressions, even Celestia. Twilight had not told them about that, about her feeling of failure until just then. Her tears fell as she looked back up to the gravestone.

“You were a true friend Pinkie Pie.” With great care Twilight levitated a lock of curly pink hair from her pouch, the hair enchanted to last the rest of eternity, and carefully pinned it just next to Pinkie’s name.

She stared at it for a time until Rarity and Fluttershy led her away, her friends around her. At least until Twilight broke free of them and had tackled the stone, holding onto it and screaming that she wasn’t going to abandon Pinkie twice.

Her throat was raw and her voice was gone long before they could pry her off of it, Twilight weakly struggling against them, begging them to put her back with soundless screams.

I was awoken by screaming. I jolted awake, whipping my head around to see Pinkie and Rose clutching each other with expressions of horror directed toward the pack.

I looked. They were eating a dead griffon and Pinkie and Rose were upset for some reason. I had been confused. It was rather gory, but they were animals, so why were Pinkie and Rose so terrified of…

And then I recalled; ponies didn’t see a lot of death or blood in their lives. I had forgotten.

I sighed and stepped in front of them, blocking their view.

“It’s perfectly natural, they are predators and need to eat too.” I said in a calm voice.

“But… they… blood.” stuttered Rose as Pinkie babbled something nigh incomprehensible.

I led them both behind the rock wall Pinkie had erected so they couldn’t see it anymore, Rose traumatized and Pinkie upset, still babbling.

I pushed Rose over onto her moss bed with no difficulty and looked to Pinkie with an annoyed look.

“I can’t understand you if you babble.” I said, “Take a breath and try speaking slowly so I can understand.”

She inhaled far deeper than I anticipated, inflating slightly before exhaling and giving me a serious look.

“Griffons. Are. Ponies.” she said with all seriousness.

I blinked. “No they’re not. Griffons have feathers and claws and beaks.”

“Not like that, they are ponies!”

“Make sense Pinkie!”

“Griffons think and feel and talk! Just. Like. Ponies!”

That’s what she was upset about. Griffons were real animals where I had come from, but in Equestria they were intelligent. Of course Pinkie and Rose were so upset; the wolves had slain and were eating a person, even if that person looked nothing like them.

“Go and save him!” Pinkie insisted.

I looked at her face and decided that I was not going to convince her that the griffon was very dead. I sighed and went to the pack, leaving the pair behind.

“Move.” I told them, the wolves scattering to allow me access to the corpse.

I heard a gasp and a thud. I looked back to see Pinkie collapsed on the ground, fainted from the sight of the creature. I shook my head and resumed my observation.

The griffon was exactly the same as from my land. An eagle’s head on a lion’s body with two massive wings on its back. Its front legs were the claws of a bird, its back the paws of a lion with a tail that led behind it. That reminded me of Discord a little and I frowned remembering how I had left him.

Not that that griffon was very whole. The tail was being played with by the pups and one wing hung by a thread. The other, as well as two legs, were already gone, massive wounds all along the form, staining brown fur red.

I noticed that it had a pouch tied around its middle and I pulled the blood-stained bag free from the creature. I looked inside, finding several letters, somehow not touched by the blood. Had this griffon been some kind of carrier pigeon? Carrying letters from… I assumed that they were griffons.

I nearly went back to Rose so that she could read them with us when I stopped. Pinkie had said that the griffons were like ponies, and I did not like leaving one to the timberwolves. Even if it was dead I could give it a good sendoff.

The wolves had fortunately had their fill and only mildly complained when I dragged the corpse outside and set fire to it. I watched it burn, uncertain what I should say or do. Should I give it a sendoff? I decided to try; everypony deserved to be spoken to before, or after, their death and I supposed griffons were no different.

“Well, Pinkie says that you might’ve understood me if you still lived.” I said, thinking. “She’s the pink mare that screamed at the sight of you earlier, you remember.”

“I haven’t met a griffon that could talk. Maybe we could’ve gotten along? You carried mail, I got your sack, says... Droprock on it I think” I held it up and then felt uncomfortable, “I’m… not about to try to deliver them, I don’t know who these… griffons probably, are.”

The head seemed to nod as the body burned. “Nice to see you agreeing with me. Don’t know what god you go to, but I do hope that it’s a nice one.”

“So have a good rest whoever you were. I’ll try to find out who you were someday, if you’d like, unless you’re Droprock. Not that you can tell me if you do want me to now of course, so I’ll try anyway.”

I looked about, trying to think of more. I’d never needed to speak with random corpses before. “If you don’t mind I’d like your skull, maybe?” I asked it, feeling self-conscious. It was a very strange question to ask, even to a corpse.

“I never got a griffon skull before, and I promise that I would take good care of it. Maybe you could even come back now and then and look out of it, I don’t mind.”

As though my request had been heard and granted the head tipped free, rolling to a stop near me. I would swear that the empty sockets were looking at me, the bone bunt free of flesh and feathers.

I looked down at it. “Suppose you don’t mind then.” I muttered. It was sooty, but I picked it up anyway, getting my mouth filled with the taste of ashes.

I watched him burn down to nearly nothing and then walked back into the cave. Pinkie was still lying unconscious and I walked past her only to hear another scream and thud.

I had forgotten that Rose was there. Now she was unconscious too, having seen the skull. I deposited the skull within my own pouch and dragged Pinkie to her bed. They would recover sooner or later.

It was then that I noticed that Honest was missing. Where was he?

I looked about, noting that his bag was missing and his bed was slept in. I tried to think about where he might have gone. I couldn’t ask Rose or Pinkie; even when they woke they were not going to be sensible.

I went to the wolves instead and soon received my answer. He had followed them for some reason and when they had killed the griffon he had not followed them back. He was probably lying somewhere in the woods, just like Rose and Pinkie.

I got one of the wolves to lead me back and soon found him, half-frozen and barely breathing. I got him on top of me and began heading back, the entire time wondering why he had to be an idiot. Going out there alone and following the pack like a real stallion and he had fainted when they killed like some small child. I didn’t think he could have a good reason to be out there.

I came back, Pinkie recovered and Rose lying down with a green look to her. Pinkie looked up and moved to assist me with Honest, helping me to get him onto his own bed.

Pinkie laid next to him, trying to warm him and I went to Rose.

“Rose?” I asked.

“Is… is this normal for you Hag?”

I wondered at that, so I laid down next to her, wondering. “Is what normal for me?”

“The… the blood. And death. You were carrying that poor thing’s…” she trailed off, looking ill again and I sighed.

“Rose.” I began, moving closer to her, “When I was five my father decided I needed to know how to… deal with death and everything that comes with it. So he taught me how to clean a rabbit, a live rabbit that he made me kill with my own ha… hooves.”

She looked to me with pity and I shook my head. “No Rose, his lessons were very important. Back in my land death was always next to me. Hags need to deal with the death of many, and I saw a great many deaths over my life, natural or otherwise.”

“But how can you Hag? How do you stand such… things?”

I shrugged. “That’s just me I guess. Some ponies can, some can’t. I never found out why.”

“And the… skull of that poor creature?”

“… That will take some explaining Rose. Can you move?”

“Why do I have to?” she asked, looking more normal now.

“Because Honest got himself frozen because he was a fool and followed the pack and fainted when they…”

She got up before I could finish and zipped to Honest, lying next to him and leaning against him. She really cared for him.

I followed after her and settled nearby, the four of us in a tight cluster.

“You can tell me now Hag.” Rose said, watching me from the corner of her vision.

Pinkie hopped her front half over Honest and smiled. “Me too! I want to know!”

“You don’t even know what you want to know!” I told her, frowning at her.

“Can I know anyway?” she asked me, tilting her head slightly.

“Fine. As Rose knows, I do not come from Equestria originally.”

“Where did you come from?” Pinkie asked, leaning closer. She was reminding me of the children that could never have their fill of stories and I smiled at her.

“My land is called Iscantol in my first language. ‘The land of ice’.”

Pinkie oohed and Rose smiled as I began retelling the tale.

“Peo… ponies are very different there, and they live in a land that hates them. The creatures of the woods attack them and the winds can freeze them in moments.”

“It is a hard life and a harsh land. After a time they came up with a tradition, one that would comfort the living and give peace to the dead.”

“We burn the bodies of dead ponies…”

“Like Pegasi!” interrupted Pinkie.

“And sometimes," I continued, ignoring her outburst, "if that person had expressed a desire to live longer, or if the family grieves too much at their loss, the skull is collected, shined and put in a place of honor in the house.”

“But why Hag? It seems rather morbid.”

“It’s not morbid Rose. The dead can come back to their skulls, and we keep them close to us so that our ancestors can keep an eye on us. I got the griffon’s skull because he had nopony, or at least nopony I know of, to be at his passing.”

“He might have even returned as some malevolent ghost, angered that he died alone and forgotten. So I gave him a sendoff and got his skull, so that he might live on, and if I ever find them, so that he can see his family one last time before he stops coming back.”

Rose sighed. “That is a very… strange tradition Hag. But it does sound nice, even if it is creepy.”

“So you can meet him?” I asked with a wicked smile, reaching into my bag.

“No! I mean, just!” Rose closed her eyes and looked ill again as I pointed the blackened skull at her. Pinkie seemed curious.

“Is he in there?” she asked.

“Might be. I would need to enchant it so that we could tell, but he could be looking at you and Rose right now.”

Rose was distressed by the thought, but Pinkie hooked onto the idea with eagerness.

“Hi!” she said, waving to the skull, “I’m Pinkie Pie! And this is Rose, he’s Honest and the pony holding you is Hag!” She got a worried look.

“I hope it didn’t hurt too badly, it would be awful if it hurt. I’d give you a cupcake,” she produced one from her mane, “but you can’t eat it like that.”

“Pinkie!” I yelled, drawing Rose’s attention, “Where did you?!”

“Get the cupcake? I just do.” She said, popping the entire thing into her mouth.

My mouth was open in shock. We had starved for a week and Pinkie could summon food out of the air. Why had she not done so before?!

I asked her as much and got the response that cupcakes came on their own time. I was still trying to get her to make sense, maybe shaking her a little, the both of us having moved a short ways away, when Honest woke up groaning.

“Honest!” Rose said, speaking over my yelling at Pinkie and Pinkie’s nonsensical responses. “Are you O.K?”

“Why are they arguing?” he groaned.

“Hag is upset because Pinkie can apparently pull anything out of her mane.”

Honest looked over to Rose with a blank expression.

“But first, could you tell me what you were doing out in the cold? Hag had to go and find you before you froze out there and you were really cold when she brought you back.”

He blushed. “I was looking for something.” His horn lit up and he levitated a blue rose from his pouch, giving it to Rose who stared at it in growing wonder.

“I followed the pack because I would have gotten lost otherwise when I was looking for this. I must have fainted when they… it doesn’t matter. I want you to have it Rose.”

She gingerly took the Rose in her hoof, holding it like it might shatter. “You found a frost Rose… for me?” she asked, not looking at him.

“I thought you would like it…” he murmured.

Rose looked up to him, her eyes sparkling and his gaze was caught by them. She placed the bloom in her mane and smiled at him, striking him dumb with her appearance.

“Does it look nice?” she asked him, leaning closer.

“It… it's perfect.” He said, whispering the words as the two leaned toward each other, eyes closing.

I watched the pair kiss, the sight warming my heart. I had stopped yelling at Pinkie and we watched the pair have their moment.

“We’ve got to get them married” hissed Pinkie, whispering to me.

I looked to her, slightly puzzled. “They get married when they decide. Why do we have to do anything?” I whispered back.

“So it can be special! They should get married with a big party with lots of ponies, not in a cave!”

“Special.” I looked back to the couple, “Special.”

I watched the couple giggle with each other for a moment before looking back to Pinkie.

“More than special.” I said, “Rose is going to have the happiest day of her life, and I want you to help me. Think you can manage Pinkie?”

She nodded vigorously, eager already. Now the only problem was finding civilization so that we could get them a perfect setting. I hesitated for a moment though. They had not proposed to one another yet, and I wasn’t sure that they would before we found the perfect spot.

Then Rose squealed before clapping her hooves over her mouth, causing us to jump, looking over. Pinkie got the largest smile I ever saw on her face, and my own mouth was stretched to the point of pain. Rose looked to us and then blushed like a tomato, Honest smiling proudly and not hiding his face like Rose was.

They had just proposed. My heart soared at the thought and the sight and I swore that they would have the greatest wedding there ever was.

Finding Happiness End

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It had finally stopped snowing and the air was chill, but not freezing. I had read the letters left behind by the griffon (Pinkie was calling him Feathers) and we now had a faint idea as to where we were.

Rose and Honest were closer than ever, joy apparent in their every step and affection in every gesture. Pinkie was helping me plan the greatest wedding for them, but first we had to find civilization.

So I had taken the toadstools that I had obtained in Manehatten and arranged them in a circle, my companions watching me as we stood in the snow outside the den.

“How will this help Hag?” Rose asked me as Pinkie watched me intently.

“You’ll see.” I responded.

Having finished I cleared my throat. I made several noises, trying to sound like a clear set of bells, drawing confused looks from Rose and a very good mimicry from Pinkie. The mare had a good voice to her.

The toadstools had remained plain for a moment, but then the red and white caps glittered. A mist sprang up in the middle and when it faded a fairy remained.

Fairies are tiny humanoids, standing less than six inches in height. They resemble humans, but usually have otherworldly hair colors and two transparent wings on their back, their clothes made from leaves or petals.

I looked to it and talked in its language, the fey language, trying to sound like a glass bell. Mortals were unable to produce most of the sounds, mangling the ‘words’ but they understood anyway. Most of the time.

It flew up to look into my eyes and produced the most enchanting noises as it commented on my form.

“You shouldn’t look like that.” she said.

“Kno hat. Need hilp, kennot fin homs of man.” I said.

It looked about and shrugged, pointing in one direction. “That way is a town, and past it is another.”

I smiled, “Ink ya, now go bck ta ya places.”

She frowned, crossing her tiny arms, “Don’t want to, we haven’t been here before.”

I frowned. It had just told me that they fey were not in Equestria and never had been (a great relief) and I was not going to let it stay here.

With Pinkie continuing to echo our words I said, “nae. Back, fore I trap ya.” I shifted a hoof right next to a toadstool, the fairy growing fearful. “I well.”

With a sudden movement she was gone back in the mist and I knocked a toadstool out of place, the magical effects cutting off. I turned back to my dumbstruck companions.

“Told you fey were real Rose.” I said, smirking a little at her.

“What… I have never seen anything like that, or heard,” she looked to Pinkie who was still producing bell noises, “anypony talking like that.”

“That’s fey for you. Speak like tiny bells, enchanting sounds, but the nice noises hide nasty meanings. I got directions at least and she told me that there are no fey here. You can now jump into flower circles to your silly heart’s content.”

Rose pouted at me and I chuckled. “Come on then, we got places to go and we will need to gather all that we can carry from the timberwolves before we leave. I’m not sure how far we have to go.”

So we collected all the edible material we could from the wolves, gathering our moss beds into Honest’s pouch (he complained, but I wasn’t going to jam that much moss into my bag, even if it was endless) and we set off.

Three days of walking the woods before we found where the fairy had spoken of.

Run down houses which sometimes perched in trees in a slipshod manner greeted us. Griffons walked and flew about the place, talking and acting just like ponies. Ponies are not that grumpy or angry, but it was still similar.

“Guess you were telling the truth Pinkie, they really are like ponies.”

“You didn’t believe me?” she asked, her eyes, if it was possible, growing even larger than Rose’s as she pouted at me.

“I did! I did!” I sighed in relief and then grunted as she hugged me. I decided that I really needed to grow used to that before I was taken advantage of.

The griffons themselves were less than welcoming. Pinkie seemed to expect them to be grumpy, but Rose got a nasty one who yelled at her for asking where we were.

I set him right, which set the entire town right; they all hid in their houses while the one pinned under me begged me to stop pulling his feathers out.

He deserved it, but he did give us some directions. The land was called Eaglemount, home to griffons and a number of ponies. The ponies lived nearby, just a few days walking down a trail left by the ponies (griffons flew everywhere and didn’t need roads). If we wanted to go there, High Peak was the capital, the mountain visible even from there, the top poking just over the trees. The griffon claimed it was accessible by hoof and I believed him. He really wanted me to stop plucking him.

So we left, Pinkie giving the beast a cupcake in apology, even if she told me that I had done the right thing later on. As we went I put the finishing touches on the scale armor, taking the time to enchant and color it; it was an ugly mishmash of reds and browns before, but soon, it was a shimmering white.

I did not show it to Rose or Honest. It was to be their wedding gift from me, the armor fitted to Honest’s proportions. It was the greatest gift I could give them, at least physically.

Rose would also be quite happy when she tried to have a foal. It was the work of a moment to boost her fertility (she wasn’t infertile, but would have trouble conceiving without my efforts) and I was willing to wait until she figured it out to tell her.

We arrived at Mountainside, the pony town, after a few days travel, the sight of familiar forms giving my companions a good boost to their spirits. I told the couple that we were going to stay for a few days to recuperate from our time in the woods.

The town was wonderful, even in the layer of snow that coated it. It lay upon a cliff face, the view from the edge breathtaking and Rose had fallen in love with it. We could see all the way to the ocean, snow topped trees far below us leading all the way to the edge of the land.

Rose finally told me about her engagement, and asked me to be her ‘best mare’. She explained what that meant and I agreed, and she mentioned that she would love to be married here, looking out over the cliff. I nodded and told her that I could help with that.

I was far from experienced in pony weddings. My people decided to get married and that was that, no ceremony unless the couple really wanted it. A ceremony was normal for ponies, and it was helping me to plan this out; it would have been awkward if I had have had to convince her to have one.

I half expected that it was going to take some time, setting up a wedding for Rose and Honest, particularly with my and Pinkie’s additions. Pinkie proved me wrong, not only becoming friends with the entire town after a day, but enlisting their help to prepare.

By the end of the week, as a warm few days came to us, we finished. The snow had melted somewhat in the warmer air and sunlight, and I had put forth my best. I called out and the land below had rushed to answer my call. Flowers covered the cliff and the land beyond it. Unseasonal and strange to see flowers in the snow, but it was beautiful.

Pinkie had gone completely overboard with balloons and streamers, all set up last night so we could surprise Rose and Honest, who were still asleep during our preparations. I nodded in approval and she beamed at me, continuing to decorate the town in the half-light from the moon, and after a bit, the sun.

I went to Rose’s room first. One of the first things she had needed was a dress and nopony in town was able to create one. So I did, with Rose helping out. It hung on her door as I entered the room and woke her, telling her to get prepared and that I would fetch her when the time came.

I left her to that and went to Honest, finding him awake and fidgeting in his room.

“Nervous Honest?” I asked, entering his room and gently shutting the door behind me.

He jumped. “Hag! I just… I want this to go perfect but I’m just not sure…”

“Every male gets worried Honest, don’t go fretting now. Now. You got your suit?”

“Yes.”

“You got your words all memorized?

“Yes.”

“You got your heart ready?”

“Yes.”

“You going to stop lying to just about everypony now?”

“Ye… what?”

“Rose might not see it, but I can, 'Honest Cloud'. You lie a lot, and you're good at it. I know what you are."

He was terrified. At the time, I thought it little more than fear of me and what I might possibly do. Perhaps a bit much though, which convinced me to have some mercy, and try a softer approach. “Don’t worry, I can keep secrets. But Rose isn’t blind and she will eventually figure you out. I don’t want you to hurt her, but do you want to hurt her?”

“No, I don’t! Really!”

“I believe you, but can you change the nature of a pony? I went and took a good look at your cutie mark when you were sleeping. Looks like a four leafed clover doesn’t it?”

“That because it is! I’ve always been a bit lucky. But why does that matter now?”

“Possibly because it’s not a four leafed clover is it? It’s just a clover that looks like something it’s not. Little like you, I think." I added, Honest staring at me in near horror as I spoke. I wondered as I finished, "So can a pony change? Are you able to put aside your lying and cheating for her?"

He hung his head in defeat. “Are you going to tell Rose?” he asked me, his dejected tone telling me that he anticipated my doing just that.

“No.”

He looked up in surprise. “You won’t… but… you said it. I’m a charlatan. A con pony, a big fraud. I’ve led that life ever since I was a colt.”

“Why don’t you tell me about it? We got some time.”

So he did. It had been during his first attempt at gambling that he discovered his talent. Deception. Everypony thought that he was lucky, and he had never told anypony otherwise, soon leaving the town because he couldn’t look his old friends in the eye anymore.

So he told his best friend, Rose Bush, that he was going to find his fortune and left, traveling from place to place, living off of whatever money that he could earn or trick from ponies. Nopony every spotted him, and he never had the courage to tell them, or the ability to earn bits the normal way. He lost every job he ever had apparently. He had lived off of the bits that he cheated from others, having no real talent in anything else and no drive to push past that.

He was very insistent that he was going to change, and he had not lied to either me or Rose; he really did try to sell ponies ‘magical balls’.

“I think I understand. Hard life if you can’t do anything, even in Equestria.” I said after he finished.

“And now you want something.” he said with a sigh.

“I do, but it’s not anything that you’re thinking of.”

“Then what?”

“I want you to make her happy.”

“What?”

“Rose. She’s lost a lot, I am sure that she has told you. She really loves you Honest, I can see it in her eyes, her heart, and her soul. And you can do it, because your own soul shines under the layer of grime that you dipped it in.”

He watched me with a stunned expression. “You… you really don’t care about my past?”

“Rose won’t care about your past, so long as it doesn’t become your present. You will need to change for her, for yourself. Or do you like living your lies?”

“I… I will change! I hate what I’ve had to do!”

“Then get ready, your bride awaits. And Honest?”

“Yeah Hag?”

“If you do break her heart, then I’m going to make you suffer like nothing should.”

He gave me a grin, fortifying my hopes. If he wasn’t determined to change my threat would have been received with fear. But he was happy now, if he was still nervous.

“Then you can get into your suit now.”

I held it up and grinned at his dumbfounded face. I held the dragon scale armor, the white scales glittering in the light.

“What is…”

“Put it on, it will fit you. And Rose will adore it. Trust me.”

The wedding went perfectly, Rose perfect in her gown, Honest filled with nervous energy, but also bursting with happiness. I gave Rose away, taking the place of mother of the bride and best mare according to Pinkie who was serving as Honest’s best stallion… she wore a suit and was not male, but she preformed admirably.

My heart melted as they exchanged vows. I cried in joy as Rose turned to Honest, feeling as though she was my own daughter. When they kissed the feeling grew, and grew, and intensified, an almost painful happiness.

Rose came to me soon after, the happiest that I’ve ever seen her. I was still trying to gain control of myself.

“Hag!” she said as she embraced me, “You are the best thing to ever happen to me.”

“I was… I.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, my eyes teary, “I was only doing what’s right Rose.” I said, voice cracking as I spoke.

“You did more than that Hag.” She said, smiling at me. “You saved me from myself back in Leaffall. You let me take care of you in our travels.”

I hesitated. “You noticed that? I thought…”

“Otherwise? I do have eyes.” she said with a sarcastic tone, still smiling.

“You relied on me in Manehatten, trusting me, me! To guide you through it, putting yourself into my hooves without a moment’s hesitation. We met those girls, and they showed me what a caring pony you were, saving them from timberwolves.”

“Even though you lied, those girls were right; you were hurting and alone after your village was destroyed. And you apologized for lying too. You even stopped teasing me about Honest when I asked you to. You never did that for anypony else did you? I could tell.”

“You always tell me about your past, when I suspect that very few ponies will ever get to hear about it. You warmed my heart with those tales, the love that you had for everypony near you.”

“The time we were lost in the woods, and all those efforts you made to make sure that we could be as comfortable as possible, taking on an equal share of the pain despite your age. You even tamed the timberwolves, keeping us warm and happy despite everything.”

“You put up with Pinkie cheering me up. You kept me safe and happy to the best you were able. You went far beyond ‘doing what’s right’. You did everything that you could, for me, and for everypony.”

“And now this. This wonderful, perfect wedding. I love the dress that you made for me, and the time that you must have put into making everything perfect behind my back. You even gave Honest the scales! The same scales that you prized so much!”

I was speechless at her words. She had remembered everything. She had known and heard so much more than I thought she did. My throat constricted and a few tears fell from my eyes.

“And now there is something I want to call you.” She said.

I nodded, not trusting my own voice.

“I never met my own, and nopony deserves the title more. I am happier than I had ever been and it’s all because of you…”

“Grandmother.”

I sobbed. I completely broke down in happiness, Rose patting at me as I cried. It hurt, I was so happy.

In fact, it actually hurt. My eyes burned with tears and neither Rose nor I noticed that they were collecting on the ground in a small heap.

“I… I… Rose…” I managed, choking slightly.

“I know grandmother, I know.”

I tried to lift my head, only then noticing my heap of tears, glowing pink on the ground. I looked at it, my gaze drawing Rose’s own.

She gave it a confused look. “Grandmother? What is that?”

I had shudders every time she uttered ‘grandmother’, but I held myself together. I cautiously scooped it up, noticing that it had a rigid feel to an unnaturally smooth surface, as though molten glass had dripped into a small pile and hardened, creating rings, the largest on the bottom and the top a tiny orb.

I was sensing something and I focused trying to remember where I had felt that before. It took a moment before it came to me.

It was the same power that the tree of harmony had. A power that reminded me of it, but also seemed to be filled with joy and with one moment of clarity I whipped my head up, reddened eyes looking to Rose.

“I found it…” I whispered.

“Found… is… is that?” Rose said, grin beginning to grow on her own face.

“Happiness!” we both yelled, the pair of us grabbing each other.

I let go of her and wiped my eyes with a hoof, putting happiness within my pouch.

“I am more fulfilled than I ever have been… granddaughter.” Rose smiled at me, “You have found happiness and I have found happiness. To think this would happen when you found me in your rose bush…”

“It is unbelievable isn’t it?” She laughed, and I joined her, the pair of us continuing to laugh for some time before I followed her to the buffet.

It had been a long and hard road. At the start I had been certain that I would never find the elements. But now one was close to me and emanated happiness, even though the pouch was bottomless. I didn’t need its boost though.

I had a family. I had ponies to care about. I had ponies that cared about me.

An end and a new beginning

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*** Ponyville, just outside of Twilight’s castle***

“Rainbow, you don’t have to! Where are you even going?”

“A very long trip Twi, and I do have to. And I don’t know when I’m coming back.” She pulled the strap of saddlebags taught.

“But… but why Rainbow? I want… need you here!”

Rainbow sighed and looked to Twilight’s worried face. It had been over three weeks since they had left Pinkie’s grave on the hill and Twilight was still near inconsolable over her. Nothing seemed to allow her to stop grieving over Pinkie, which was one of the reasons Rainbow was leaving.

“I am trying to help you Twi!”

“How are you helping me by leaving me?!”

“Because I’m going to find Pinkie!” The moment she said it Rainbow knew that she had messed up.

“Pinkie is gone Rainbow! And she isn’t coming back!” Twilight yelled, growing upset.

“She isn’t gone! And I am going to find her! How could I be the element of loyalty if I didn’t try!?” Rainbow yelled back.

“First you don’t know where to start. Second you are not being loyal to anypony by looking for her because Pinkie’s DEAD!”

“SHE ISN’T DEAD!” Rainbow screamed back, anger and tempers running over, the grief of Twilight and Rainbow’s denial clashing.

“She is dead, nopony could survive that! And I failed her and now I might fail you! I won’t let you go! I am not losing another friend! Never again!”

Rainbow watched Twilight, tears in the alicorn’s eyes as her wings flared out.

“And I’m not going to let you continue like this Twilight.” Rainbow said in a soft voice, causing Twilight to hesitate.

“What?” she asked, her wings dropping slightly.

“I… I need to try. I have to look for her, or I failed her too. And I would have failed you.”

Twilight watched Rainbow almost confused as the pegasus shook her head sadly.

“You just haven’t been the same pony ever since Pinkie vanished! You aren’t happy anymore! I haven’t even seen you smile once!” Rainbow looked up with pleading eyes. “I’ve gotta look. Just to be certain. To know if she’s really gone.”

“But…” Twilight said, giving Rainbow her own pleading eyes.

“No buts Twilight. What if Pinkie survived? What if she’s out there somewhere, hurt and alone? What if she needs us? I have to go and look.”

Twilight hesitated. Her mind insisted that nopony could have survived my spell, but her heart began hoping. What if Rainbow was right? What if they were abandoning Pinkie when she needed them the most? She watched Rainbow watch her, both ponies breathing hard.

“You… You need to go northeast.” Twilight said, swallowing hard and trying to stop crying.

“Wha… Twilight?”

“The spell would have sent them very far, far outside Equestria’s borders either north or east and very likely some combination of the two. If you want to look go northeast first. I can fashion you some kind of tracking spell to help if you wait for a moment.”

“Twilight… Thank you.”

Twilight trotted off, soon returning with a tiny pouch and looped it over Rainbow’s head.

“It’s inaccurate, but it should work within ten miles of Pinkie. If you do get that close, the magic will start tugging toward her general direction. Make sure not to lose it or take it off. You need to take some winter gear too; it gets cold up there, and make sure to get a map when you leave Equestria.”

Rainbow nodded, feeling emboldened about her now slightly hopeful search.

“And Rainbow?”

“Yeah Twi?” she asked as she flapped her wings.

“I want you back before next summer. O.K?”

Rainbow looked to her and then saluted. “I’ll be back before then Twilight! And with Pinkie, you can bet on it!”

Twilight watched her go, a rainbow streak across the sky. Her mind rebelled, insisting on the hopeless nature of Rainbow’s quest, but she was unable to deny her friend.

If she said no, it would be like watching Pinkie die all over again.

*** Mountainside, a few days after the wedding ***

“I’m going to miss you grandmother.”

“I will miss you too Rose.”

“Rose! The ship is leaving soon!”

“I’ll be right there honey!” Rose called to Honest.

We stood out on a dock, ponies preparing a vessel for travel. Rose and Honest wanted to find a home, and it was partially my fault.

Rose had decided on Ponyville, the town closest to the Everfree so that when I returned they could be close to me. Honest had even been willing. He was not very close to me, but he felt a kinship of sorts. I was now his family by marriage (and by choice, but Rose had insisted that we were now blood) and he actually wanted for me to be nearby. To help him with his… bad habits.

Why it was my fault they were leaving? Well, remember the fertility I had granted Rose?

Pinkie can apparently sense pregnancy in mares after only one day of being pregnant.

She had told Rose and we had another party that Pinkie had thrown together in only a minute (how she made a cake in that short a time I would never know) and the couple needed to find a home. It was not healthy for Rose or the growing infant to follow after me on my quest.

So Rose and Honest were leaving on a boat to get to Ponyville and start a home. I promised that I would eventually go back to my own home in the Everfree, close enough that we could visit one another.

I would have to cure the tree of harmony and somehow stop Celestia from wanting to kill me first, but that didn’t have to be said right then.

“Promise me you’ll write?” she asked.

“Of course! Just expect the mail to be delivered by birds.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way. Goodbye Grandmother! I want to see you before the baby is born!”

“I should be done long before that! But if I’m not I will brave dragons to be by your side!”

She laughed and we waved to one another, Pinkie by my side as the ship departed. I took a moment to pray that the voyage would go well and continued to wave until I could no longer see Rose.

I turned to Pinkie. “Looks like it’s just us Pinkie.”

“Yep. And we going to find magic and loyalty right?”

“That’s right. So come on. I don’t know where to start so we got a long ways to go.” I began walking back down the pier.

“Long trips are the best!” Pinkie yelled, bouncing next to me. “We can have campfires and tell scary stories and bond and see everything there is to see and help ponies and…”

I stopped listening. Pinkie can talk a man to death.

Whatever the case she still got on my nerves. The endless energy, the incessant talking, the inexplicable abilities… Frustrating!

But she also reminded me of Discord. She was… like him. Not a copy and a poor substitute, but her nature was similar to him. I suspected that the pair would even be friends if they met.

So followed by a bouncing pink mare I walked onward. I had no idea where to begin, no idea where I might go. When I first started I was less than happy about such a vague and aimless quest.

But now I couldn’t wait. Ponies to help, ponies to meet, places to see, things to learn about. It all waited just beyond and I smiled.

Pinkie behind me making sure that I would never be bored we walked (and bounced) onward, picking a direct at random and heading off. There was an adventure to be had!

Undying Loyalty 1

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“Wandering is so fun, wandering in the sun. Just the two of us, it’s so fabulous, wandering is fun.”

Spring had finally arrived, leaving the land green and warm once again. It had been one month since I had seen Rose Bush and her new husband Honest Cloud off on their voyage.

“Meeting new ponies everywhere, places I’ve never seen oh look over there! Something new to see! Someplace new to be! Wandering is fun.”

I decided to travel inland in Eaglemount, wanting to learn more about griffons. The desire mostly sprang from the idea that I might discover the dead griffon’s past, and bring his tale to a satisfactory end so that he could move on.

And yes, I did make the enchantment to make the skull’s eyes glitter if he was looking.

He usually was.

“It’s just me and her, that’s all it ever were, I hope that we can get some more, wandering is fun.”

And I might just strangle Pinkie in her sleep. She had been constructing that tune ever since we first left and she has expanded it to fill hours of travel. It stuck in the head. But I couldn’t just deny her. It made her happy.

“So off we go! Onward through the snow! Onward through the forest the fields and the flowers, onward past the mountains just like towers.”

“We’ll find what we seek, just wait we’ll find it this week! Just the two of us, it’s so fabulous! It just Pinkie and Hag!”

“Pinkie?”

“Yeah Hag?”

“Why don’t you talk to Feathers for a while?”

I passed her the griffon’s skull and she happily put it on her back and settled into the endless chatter she was so fond of. It was quieter than her singing, and easier to endure.

Eaglemount was deceptively large. Mountains and valleys and hills made traveling on hoof an extremely long journey where a griffon could just fly over the obstacle. That was not a difficulty, as I was used to wilderness and travel and Pinkie seemed impossible to tire.

What was a difficulty was the skull we had with us, as griffons apparently have an extremely violent reaction at seeing their dead. They don’t attack, but they do thrash and scream and rip feathers out like they had been possessed or something. An issue that came up from time to time as griffons flew and had great vision.

And worse, beyond that, was that griffons are apparently the most pig headed people I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. They were rude, insulting, and arrogant creatures, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure why.

They lived in shacks that any breeze could destroy, and their towns were disasters with garbage and debris scattered without care. Most of everything was falling apart, and the griffons themselves were often disgusting, filthy things.

If Pinkie was not somehow capable of making them tolerable in behavior, I would be leaving a trail of beaten and bald griffons behind me.

We had managed to gain some information on the fallen griffon at least. Apparently, message griffons could only ever be found at their capital nowadays, and that is where we were headed. High Peak loomed over us, and I could just barely see a crumbling castle high atop it.

For a griffon, the flight would take an hour or less.

Since the ground went straight down some ways, and then had a winding path leading to and up the mountain, we were going to be spending a long time getting there.

We had camped just above the cliff, in preparation for the long trip down into the dark chasm. I often ate food raw when traveling, but one of Pinkie’s redeeming features was her cooking. She could make grass taste good.

So there we were, me resting by the fire with Feathers at my side, his eyes alight with a faint glitter, while Pinkie tossed and stirred and glared at the salad that she was making.

It was fairly peaceful. Nice even. Not that it lasted very long.

Rainbow had made it all the way to the edges of Eaglemount in only a month, drawn there by the faint tug of Twilight’s search charm. Everywhere she had looked, there had been no sign of Pinkie, or me.

She was taking this as a good sign; she hadn’t found our corpses, therefore we must be alive.

Other ponies would have given up long ago, but Rainbow kept going, and kept searching. An honorable trait, and once again, a mare that had more guts than most stallions.

By chance, she found her way to Mountainside. She got lost in a storm, and she found and stopped at the town because the pouring rain and driving winds made it unsafe to continue. Ponies being ponies, one of the townsfolk let her inside their home, to wait out the storm.

In particular, the pony’s name was White Cloth, and she was the one who had supplied the cloth for Rose’s dress.

After Rainbow was settled and dry, she asked her, “So, where do you come from? I’d bet Thunderhead, right? You look like a pegasus from there.”

Rainbow shook her head, “Ponyville.”

“That’s… really far away, isn’t it?” Rainbow nodded. “What are you doing all the way out here?”

“Looking for a friend.”

“Can you tell me about it?”

“Well… sure, why not.”

“Her name is Pinkie Pie, and she’s an earth pony.”

White Cloth hesitated, remembering the wedding. “Does she have a pink coat and mane, and always bounces everywhere?”

The question made Rainbow freeze. Everywhere else, she always got ‘and what does she look like?’ followed by ‘never seen her’. White Cloth had just renewed her hopes, and destroyed her fear that Pinkie might be gone, and Rainbow’s spirit soared.

She jumped and whirled on White Cloth, making the pony step back slightly. “You saw her!?” she yelled. “Where!? When!? I need to know!”

“It… it was a while ago, just a month ago. She was helping somepony set up a wedding here, just over on the cliff. It was really nice too, and I made the cloth that made the bride’s dress!”

“Is that it? You don’t know anything else?”

“You’d have to ask Foundation. He’s our town reporter, and if anyone knows what happened and what happened after, it’s him.”

The instant the rain stopped, Rainbow went to visit that pony. I had never paid much attention to him, busy with preparations, but Pinkie always had time for ponies.

He knew her, and knew where she went. But first he had regaled Rainbow with the tale of the wedding, and told her about Rose and Honest, particularly Honest’s scale mail. Then he mentioned me, and though Rainbow tensed, he didn’t notice, and told her that we had gone deeper into Eaglemount, bound for parts unknown while Rose and Honest had set sail for Ponyville.

Some might have been torn. Rose and Honest might know a lot about me and Pinkie, and they had gone to Ponyville, where Rainbow could rest and resume her normal life.

But Pinkie was out there somewhere, with me, and Rainbow was certain that I was forcing her. She even imagined some kind of chain and collar attached to Pinkie so I could drag her. Not that that would work, as nothing stopped Pinkie from doing anything she wanted to if she didn’t want it to.

She decided to get Pinkie, and tell Twilight when she got back, with Pinkie, and maybe even me, bound up behind her. Her spirit as hard as iron, and now it was renewed with fire. She was going to find us.

The next morning, Pinkie and I were descending into the gorge, slowly picking our way down the winding trail along the cliff side. We had a ways to go yet, and Pinkie was ahead of me, helping me to find a trail.

I was very worried about this. I never liked heights, and there was no forest either near or in the gorge in case of accidents. Far below us, I could see the bottom, where a river ran through it. It looked like a blue thread with spots of green that I was all too aware were a few trees. So I picked my way after the pink mare and prayed that I or her wasn’t about to slip off.

Pinkie hesitated ahead of me, and began pawing at the trail, tossing loose rocks from the stone. She had a real talent for rocks, and was exceptionally experienced in climbing for some reason. It didn’t make sense why she would be at the time.

I stopped behind her and relaxed slightly. And that is when Rainbow spotted us from above.

I am sure that she didn’t mean to, but when she swooped down at speeds that made her a blue blur and snatched Pinkie, she rammed into me in the process.

I was thrown from the cliff, but I acted fast, and grabbed her tail with all of my strength. That threw her off balance, and all three of us slammed into the opposite rock wall with some force, and then we were all falling.

In our fall I grabbed her barrel, and managed to get a hold on Pinkie which encouraged Rainbow to try and hit me. Pinkie had taken the worst of the rock wall, and she was dazed as I fought Rainbow, attempting to manually flap her wings while Rainbow tried to throw me off midair.

Yes, that was incredibly stupid, but again, I am afraid of heights, and very afraid of falling. I wasn’t thinking at the time.

It is a testament to Rainbow’s abilities that we didn’t all die. As the ground rushed at us, I managed to summon a brief updraft, which helped very little, and Rainbow somehow turned a plummet into a crash, getting just enough lift to throw us sideways, instead of straight down.

She plowed me into a tree, and I was knocked unconscious.

“Hag… Hag…” something called.

My head felt like it had a wolf inside it. I was certain I was bleeding and my bones and muscles felt like they burst into flame at my wakening. I began regretting doing so, but the voice wasn’t stopping.

“Hag… Hag… Hag!”

I opened one eye to a blurry sight of Pinkie, gently tapping me with her hoof. As my vision returned, I noticed that she seemed dirty, and scuffed, and for a moment, I wondered why. Hadn’t we walked down there?

Then I remembered and I was on my feet in spite of my body. Then I fell over again because one of my legs chose then to tell me it was broken.

“Hag!” Pinkie called happily, seeing I was awake. “You’re up! How do you feel?”

“Like I fell off of a cliff.” I groaned. “Where is that pegasus?”

“She’s over there, and I need your help Hag. Can you get up?”

I shook my head. “Find me a sturdy stick, and get the bandages from my pack, and we’ll see.”

Pinkie had little knowledge of healing, and setting your own bone is difficult, but I managed. My leg set, and the stick to help support me, Pinkie led me to the still unconscious Rainbow. She was on her front, but her wings were awkwardly bent. I knew what I was looking at.

She had landed on them, heavily, and probably crushed most of the bone. I stared at her, and decided that she deserved it; she nearly killed us.

“Can you fix her Hag? She’s hurt bad, but you can do it!” Pinkie said.

I turned and opened my mouth and I would swear that she read my mind. Her eyes turned misty, and big, and wobbled, with her mouth doing the same and I felt like I had almost done something unthinkable to her.

“I can.” I said, getting her to stop. “But it’ll take a while, and I’m going to need time, and a patient that isn’t struggling.”

“Nurse Pinkie, here to help!”

Rainbow was lucky I was a hag. Her wing bones were powder, and if anyone else tried to help, she would never fly again and I would recommend losing the wings. But I was a hag, and the life of a forest would remake them, so long as they didn’t heal badly.

So I bandaged them carefully, bound them to her sides, and made absolutely certain that the bones wasn’t going to try and form again on their own.

Then Pinkie began construction of a stretcher, so we could drag her, and I looked up and my weak hopes were dashed.

The rock wall we had hit had been the path leading up. I could see a gaping hole high above us where our impact had pulverized the path and made a fair bit of it drop into the ravine. We were currently stuck down here.

I looked over at Pinkie, who was shifting Rainbow onto a bed of sticks and leaves. “Who is she Pinkie?”

“Oh! Right! This is Rainbow Dash, one of my bestest friends! She doesn’t really like you, but you’re helping her which means she will!”

Rainbow Dash, the pony who Scootaloo admired. The one in the Wonderbolts, one of the element bearers, Pinkie’s friend. The pony who bucked me in the head all that time ago, and now, the pony who very nearly killed me.

Based on Scootaloo’s words, Rainbow Dash hated me, and hated me very strongly. I had severe doubts about that changing after what happened, even if I was going to fix her wings (for Pinkie, not for her.).

“She might.” I told Pinkie, “But for now, we need a way to get to High Peak, so we can solve the mystery of Feathers.”

“Is he alright?”

I checked. My pouch seemed to have protected him, the skull undamaged despite the fall and crash. “He’s fine, sleeping right now.”

Pinkie nodded, and because of my broken leg, volunteered to drag Rainbow behind her. With only two ways to go, I decided to go west, where the land seemed to get smoother. It might have a way up, or an exit of some kind. It was possible anyway.

I suspected that things were going to get worse. Something was nagging at me, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Sometimes I really hate not being able to tell what I am worrying about until it's too late.

Undying Loyalty 2

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Rose and Honest had made a home in Ponyville, in a small cottage purchased by Honest’s savings, which weren’t much. A small cottage, with little room, but Rose was hoping that one day they could expand.

Honest was truly trying to change his ways, and spent the time trying to get and keep a job. He was on his seventh, helping the Cakes, the bakers of Ponyville, who needed it due to Pinkie’s absence. There was always bits, but it was mostly the compassion of the town that allowed them to live comfortably.

They had arrived and it hadn’t been long for Rose to notice the slight strain that the town had. One of its residents had been… willing… to tell her about Pinkie’s apparent demise. And their undying hate for the pony who apparently did it. Me.

Hearing that, Rose had wisely decided to keep her mouth shut. If they knew Pinkie was alive, it would bring great cheer, but it would also tell them that I was alive, and that would be very bad. Nopony could really tell her why they hated me beyond the apparent death, but Rose suspected that there was something deeper hiding; the description they gave her of me was of a monster allied with Discord. She spent part of her time trying to figure it out, meeting ponies and trying to fish for information.

The girls had been very willing to help, but they were mostly ineffective at anything beyond keeping Rose in good spirits and reassuring her of my goodness. She was sure that everything was all just a massive misunderstanding.

So it came that she went to the Carousel Boutique, looking for a new garment as she slowly began showing signs of pregnancy.

She knocked on the door, and Sweetie let her inside.

“Hello Sweetie.” She said.

“My sister’s waiting for you miss Rose. Just over there.”

“Thanks.”

Rose hadn’t met Rarity yet, but Sweetie had prepared her for the sight of Rarity. She oftentimes took great pleasure at trying to strike ponies speechless with design and form, but Rose had a strong will. When Rose entered, Rarity was posed, her mane and tail in perfect condition, her coat shining, and she had on her very best smile. Other ponies would be stunned into immobility, but not Rose.

All Rarity got was an appreciative whistle. Rose told me that Rarity looked distressed by that before she recovered.

“Hello darling. You must be Rose Bush, correct? Welcome to my humble shop!” Rarity greeted as she walked over to her.

“It is nice to meet you Rarity, Sweetie’s told me a lot about you.”

“I’ve heard something about you from her as well. We can chat and enjoy one another as I measure you, if that’s alright.”

So they did, Rose humoring Rarity’s passions and hobbies as she stood and moved to the mare’s requests.

Mostly, it was simple chatter; weather, life, husband, normal things. Rose would often try to gently steer the conversation toward the past, trying to get Rarity to tell her something without Rarity knowing that she wanted her to tell her it.

It would work on most ponies, but Rarity, as I said before, was a master at the battleground of words. When Rose asked her about the past, in particular if she enjoyed places like Manehatten, Rarity was struck with suspicion. She didn’t outwardly show it, and she was very unsure, but hadn’t she seen Rose on the hill when I had vanished to my death along with Pinkie?

“I do love Manehatten.” she said, without any indication of her inner suspicion, “Such a lovely city.”

“It is.” Rose said. “I went there once, for a few days, and I even met my husband there.”

“Manehatten is the city of romance.” Rarity commented as she went to her table and began jotting notes.

“It really is. We went and saw most of the sights there. And you know, just before we left, the princess herself visited the city?”

Rarity thought she might have something, so she acted with great care. Surprise writing itself on her face, she said “I didn’t! Did you get a good view? I never have seen her myself, and I would adore it if you could tell me the details.” she finished with a smile and an exceptionally interested look, appearing as though she was holding herself back.

That tipped Rose off. Rarity didn’t know, but Rose knew who the bearers were. There was no way that Rarity would never have seen Celestia. But she thought she had something, so she put on her best act.

“Not much of one, we were too far away to really see anything. She came in on her chariot, with several of her guards and the entire sight was breathtaking! The gold shining in the late sun, the pegasi flying in perfect harmony, the princess sitting so tall and regal…”

Rarity took the last of Rose’s tale, late in the day, and simply leapt to the conclusion that Rose was the pony who had been with me on the hill (Rose didn’t mention that part). But what did that mean for her? Weren’t we all supposed to be dead? Was this a good thing, or a bad one?

Instead, she simply sighed happily, and looked back. “That’s it darling. I’ll have it ready in two days. Delivery or pick up?”

“Pick up. A pleasure speaking to you Rarity.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”

Rose left happy. She felt like she was finally getting somewhere, and Rarity had responded quite well. Even if Rarity did lie about herself, Rose had a good chance to find something out about why they hated me. At least that visit had gone far better than the others.

The farm mare, Applejack, was constantly busy, didn’t like being interrupted during work, and Rose reminding her, however faintly, of Pinkie’s ‘death’ had made her shut up and refuse to speak further. Fluttershy… well, no stranger could get two words out of Fluttershy . Rainbow Dash was simply gone for some reason, and everypony suggested that she was on a vacation, not knowing where she had gone nor when she would come back.

And Twilight, the princess of friendship, was simply unapproachable. She was royalty, and one ‘does not just walk up and talk to royalty as if they were normal ponies’, as Rose told me later on. But Rarity had finally given Rose Bush an opportunity to get into the bearer’s collective opinions.

She was already planning what would happen when she returned. Unfortunately, so was Rarity.

Rarity had gone to Twilight after Rose had left, and asked her if she could help her with something. An observation that might lead to something good.

Twilight had agreed, having little else to do and curious as to what Rarity was planning.

We had gotten a fair ways down the chasm when Rainbow finally woke.

She groaned, and Pinkie stopped, gently laid the stretcher down, and went to her, leaning her face in close.

“Dashie?” she whispered.

I know that Rainbow must have been in agony from her injuries just from merely lying still. And yet, at Pinkie’s soft voice, her eyes opened and she jumped up and grabbed her in a hug.

“Pinkie! I found you!” she said, tears falling, from emotion or pain, I wasn’t sure.

“You did Dashie!” Pinkie told her, gently supporting her back down. “But you’re really hurt, so don’t move too much for Pinkie, O.K?”

“You don’t understand…” she stopped as I came into view, peering at her to try and determine if she was in too much pain. I had been going to give her something for it, but Rainbow convinced me she didn’t need any as she sprang up again, between me and Pinkie, set for battle.

I saw her try to hide a grimace as one wing twitched under its wrapping. She was in a lot of pain and she was bluffing. Willing to go that far for Pinkie.

“Hag!” she yelled with ferocity. “I knew it! You’re not going to get Pinkie, or me, or anypony else, do you hear me!?”

Pinkie was saying something to Rainbow to no effect, and I sighed, half expecting that.

“Rainbow, you are very hurt, and will be hurt more if you keep moving.” I said, trying to be soothing. I suspected that it wouldn’t work, and was readying the para shroom.

She growled at me, and like I expected, jumped at me. With a quick toss, I threw the yellow spores in her face. She coughed exactly once and then froze, her eyes darting about in anger and fear.

Pinkie went over to her, and looked into her face with a faintly disapproving frown. “Rainbow! Hag is trying to take care of you! You need to listen to her, so that you can get better again.”

Then she looked over at me. “Why is she all stiff now?”

“Para shroom spore.” I told her, “Keeps her still so she doesn’t hurt herself.” or me for that matter, but that didn't have to be said.

Pinkie nodded happily, and carefully put Rainbow back on top of the stretcher. “Can she hear me?”

“Yep.”

“Okie dokie then! I can start from the beginning. Well, after I jumped into Hag’s spell…”

Pinkie began recounting every little thing that had happened after she had left her group to join mine. I stopped listening, and instead began hoping that she would finish quickly, that we would find a good place to camp, and that I would find more para shroom quickly. I had used my last, and it wasn’t going to last more than a few hours on somepony like Rainbow.

I had been right as to when it would wear off. We had stopped to camp, and taking my chances, decided to start trying to treat Rainbow as a patient instead of an enemy.

While she was still paralyzed, I mashed up thorn vine, and then fed it to her, the same way I had done to the girls. Pinkie had helped me out after that, consider I could no longer communicate well. She could understand my mumbles, and would tell everything I said to Rainbow. Simple instructions, like ‘don’t move’.

I was trying to get some sleep when I heard Pinkie; “Stay in bed Dashie! You’ll be fine!”

I didn’t hear the response, but Pinkie continued, “It was so you didn’t hurt yourself…” a pause, “Hag says that that way is the best way when the patient can’t act on their own! I’m going to try it next time!” A much longer pause, and I heard Rainbow moving.

I got up and headed over, before Pinkie filled Rainbow’s head with who knew what. Rainbow was mad, for several reasons.

She still hated me. I had paralyzed her and Pinkie had done little more than confuse her and give her a headache with her story telling skills. But she was mostly mad because I had tied her to the stretcher, foreseeing the trouble.

I should have tied the stretcher to something, because Rainbow was capable of moving it while tied to it. Pinkie was trying to hold it down as Rainbow grunted, but when I came into view she stopped and glared.

“You… You… What are you!? I don’t get it! Why does Pinkie like you so much! You’re evil!”

I decided to get at the root of the problem. “Why am I evil Rainbow?” I asked as I went over to her.

“You foalnapped the CMC, broke the elements, attacked us, and lied! A lot!”

I sighed. “And should I tell you why and how those things happened, would you listen?”

“You’d just lie again!”

“No she won’t.” Pinkie said. Rainbow gave her a questioning look. “I’ll make sure of it Dashie, you can count on me.”

Pinkie turned to me and gave me the most intent stare I had ever been subjected to. Those giant eyes seemed to stare at my soul. Rainbow stared at her for a moment, before deciding to trust her, and turned back to me.

“Pinkie can tell if you’re lying.” she said.

“...I know. Now let me begin.”

“I did not ‘foalnap’ the girls. I found them in the Everfree, attacked by giestermen, timberwolves, and badly hurt.”

Rainbow looked at Pinkie who nodded. She seemed off put by that as she looked back to me.

“So I brought them to my home, and treated them. I fed them the things they needed to recover, and made sure that they wouldn’t hurt themselves.”

“By tying them to a bed?” she asked, pointedly.

I nodded. “Like you are right now.” she glowered at me for that, “Applebloom had broken legs, just like you got broken wings. Move a lot and they are going to never recover. Held true for her, holds true for you.”

“Fine. But why did you lie to us then!? You told us that they were with Zecora and they weren’t! Do you know what that did to Rarity!? Or Applejack!?”

I winced. “I do know. I saw it writ on their faces when I met them.”

“Then why!?”

“It… I…” I sighed. “I had messed up, and failed some ponies, ponies I was meant to take care of. When I found the girls, I didn’t want to fail them, and I thought of them like the ponies I failed to save before. Saving lives already lost. Have you ever failed somepony Rainbow? Somepony who counted on you to be there, and then you weren’t, and because you weren’t bad things happened to them?”

She didn’t respond, looking away. “It’s a nasty feeling to have. I didn’t even…” I stopped myself and started again, “The girls made it go away a little bit. So I lied, so I could keep them until they got better, and didn’t need my help anymore.”

“And the elements?” she said, most of the hostility in her voice gone, still not looking at me.

“When I first found that tree, I thought it to be a bad thing.”

“How?” both Pinkie and Rainbow said at the same time, with the same confused expression as they looked at me. I sighed again.

“Long story, but I’ll try to give you the important bits. The tree… prevented some things from acting as they should. And I never realized that when those things acted as they should, they hurt ponies. Part of what I do is to make sure things are working, so I saw it as bad. I somehow broke the elements when I was fighting it. I don’t know how.”

“And then we found you and you attacked us.” she said, but her heart wasn’t in the accusation.

“When you and yours found me at the tree, I attacked you, but remember you did so first. I was hurt and confused, and you bucked an old mare in the head as hard as you could. Of course, I rammed you, so I kinda deserved it…”

Rainbow wasn’t responding anymore. “I’m even out here looking for a way to make whole what I broke." I told her, sighing. "I have a debt to you ponies, and I intend to make it right again. So do you understand now?”

She nodded, and looked over at me. “Yeah… I… um… Mighta jumped to a conclusion. Or several.”

“Easy to mess up. I’m not the best at making others see me in a good way. So now you can tell me:”

“Why, by all the spirits, are you out here, and why did you try to kill us all on the cliff!? We nearly died because of your recklessness!”

“It wasn’t reckless! I was rescuing Pinkie! You messed up my flight!”

I groaned. “If I hadn’t grabbed your tail I’d be dead!”

“Well… fine! Sorry.”

“You’re forgiven.” I said in an instant. I had several good examples of that, and I wanted to try and smooth this over. Rainbow and Pinkie didn’t see anything special about it.

“But why are you out here?” I asked. “Pinkie is a full grown mare, and can take care of herself you know.”

“I know that, but everypony else didn’t.”

Pinkie and I gave her a confused look, and she seemed to realize something.

“We need to go back to Twilight! I need to get you back, Pinkie!”

“Why?”

“Because…” she trailed off and looked awkward and mumbled something inaudible.

Pinkie leaned in close, and Rainbow muttered something in her ear.

Then she stood back up, nodded, and walked outside with her eyes closed in perfect calm. I watched her leave, confused.

“What did you…”

“I’M NOT DEAD!!!”

Pinkie outright deafened me for a moment, as well as Rainbow. I had never heard anything approaching that noise, ever. Dragons didn’t sound that loud. Not even if they roar in your face.

Pinkie returned in a rush of activity, and it took some time for me and Rainbow to calm her again.

Her friends thought her dead, and the idea of their pain was near unbearable to Pinkie. If she had her way, she would have simply dragged us all the way back to Ponyville without stopping. Ever. I think she might have swum the distance if she had to.

I eventually managed to convince her that we should take it slowly, so that Rainbow could recover, and my leg could heal, and so we could do everything we needed to on the way. We were getting close to High Peak, and she did want to help Feathers as well.

She was still tense until I suggested she plan some kind of return celebration, which gave her an outlet. Never saw anypony write that much or that fast.

“She always like this?” I asked Rainbow in a daze.

“She’s normally calmer.”

“Good to hear.”

“Mind if I ask you a few more things?”

“Yes Rainbow?”

“How bad am I hurt?”

“Two broken wings.” she sighed, but it seemed that she had expected something like that. “I can get them better. I promise.”

“Thanks… I’ve done it before, but they feel… worse this time.” I didn’t tell her how bad they were broken, and based on the faint fear in her face right then, I was never going to.

“And… well, it’s more of a… demand.”

“Demand away.” I told her.

“Never, ever, for any reason, feed me like that ever again.”

I chuckled slightly as Rainbow glared and blushed. I sighed, wondering if I could deal with Pinkie’s newfound needs and Rainbow’s requirements at the same time. One or the other was fine, but both, while I had a broken leg? I wasn’t sure if I could without tying up Pinkie too.

Looking Elsewhere

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Two days later, as promised, Rose returned to the Carousel Boutique. Honest went with her, taking a day off from being a baker’s assistant to be with her. Rose had asked him, though she hadn’t told him why.

They arrived at the shop, and unknown to Rose, Twilight was waiting inside, hidden behind a screen and looking into the room through two tiny holes poked into it. At Rose’s knock, Rarity went to open the door and Twilight readied herself, still clueless as to what Rarity wanted her to see.

“Good morning Rarity!” Rose said as she opened the door.

“Good morning darling, your dress is… is this Honest?”

“Yes! Meet my husband, Honest Cloud.”

“A pleasure to meet you miss.”

Rarity nodded, trying to decide if she remembered him on the hill as well. “Come in, I can have it ready for you in just a moment.”

She led them inside, and left them in the room while she went to ‘get the dress’. She went through a door, and then leaned against it, hoping that they would let something slip.

Honest looked around, uncaring of the dresses in the shop. He really only cared about them if Rose was wearing them.

“Why did you drag me here honey?” he asked as he looked about the room.

“Because I like being with you! And because I want to get your opinion on the dress.”

He smiled at her. “You should know that it’s you, and not it, that I’ll be staring at.”

Rose giggled and Honest growled, making Twilight, far unused to such things, nearly give herself away.

She is… innocent in a way that is very strange to me. I never thought about romance, and Twilight didn’t either, but where I am unaffected, there is no better way to get Twilight flustered.

But she held herself together and tried to focus. Rose and Honest were familiar, but Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it. She knew that Rarity wanted her to observe them, so she would, and maybe she would remember.

The couple waited, Rose with patience, and Honest without. He fidgeted until he decided to comment.

“Nice place here.” Rose nodded, not really listening to him. “Surprising to think that one of the element bearers would run a clothing shop.”

“Maybe, but everypony has a hobby.” Rose said.

Rarity, listening from behind a door, flinched, unhappy to know that Rose knew who she was. Twilight didn’t really care; a lot of ponies knew who they were.

“Hey, remember when we saw them all together? Back in Manehat ooff!”

Rose kicked him slightly, and glared, but she had been far too late. Both Rarity and Twilight realized that they had been the ones on the hill with me, the ones that they presumed dead.

Rarity nodded in satisfaction and went to get the dress, happy with the knowledge. Twilight was frozen.

If Rose and Honest were alive, then logic dictated that so was Pinkie.

Pinkie was still alive.

Rainbow had gone to find her, and she might actually be able to do it. Twilight had tried to stop her before, but right then, she was regretting not going with her. All of her pain from Pinkie’s death shifted, turning into a deep longing to see the mare again, and a happiness to know that what she had been certain of was false.

She realized that she didn’t know exactly how we survived, or how Pinkie was doing, just as Rarity led Rose and Honest out of the shop, bid them farewell, and came back to her.

“Well darling?” Rarity asked as she moved the screen.

“We need to get them back here!” Twilight yelled, only stopped from racing after the pair by Rarity moving in front of her.

“Twilight! It is not proper for a princess to rush after random ponies she never met!”

“But I need to know! Rarity, don’t you realize what this means!?”

“I suspect I do darling.” She said, smiling.

“Pinkie is alive!” they both yelled.

“And I need to find out how and where she is Rarity! And Rose might know!”

“I know, I know, but again, you can’t just rush up to them and ask.” Twilight looked thoughtful, but Rarity supplied the answer, “Invite them for tea!”

Twilight smiled and nodded, hurrying off to write a letter, overjoyed by her realization. It was only when she finished mailing the letter, and called the remaining bearers together that she realized what else their survival meant:

I was most likely alive as well.

Honest had only just arrived at his home the next day when Derpy, the mailpony, delivered Twilight’s letter.

He had taken it without much thought, and continued inside, where Rose was waiting for him.

“Everything alright at the job?” she asked him.

“Just fine. Haven’t dropped a thing.” he said in pride.

The pair nuzzled each other, and then Rose spotted the note.

“Mail? For us?”

“Yep, just got it.” he said, opening it with his magic.

The pair read the note together.

To Rose Bush and Honest Cloud,

You are invited for tea at the Castle of Friendship at 7:00 pm today. Formal dress and behavior is not required.

I am very eager to meet with you both, and I hope that you can make it.

Twilight Sparkle

The princess of Friendship

Rose squealed in delight. “The princess wants to meet us! Us! We’re invited to her castle!”

Honest smiled at her as Rose clapped her hooves, thinking about the experience to come.

“I’ll need my best dress, and you’re going to need something to wear, and…”

“Honey, it even says ‘no formal dress or behavior required’.”

Rose just gave Honest a dull glance. “She’s just trying to make us feel comfortable! Of course we have to be at our best Honest!” She looked at the clock and gasped; it was already 6:30. “We’re going to be late! Quick, you get your dragon suit and I’ll find a dress!”

Rose was bursting with pride as they walked to the castle, drawing more than a few glances. Rose was wearing the new dress from Rarity, white, to match Honest who was doing his best to stand proud in his gleaming suit.

She knocked on the door, and it was answered by Spike, who let them in and led them through the building. He was nervous about this, as Twilight had a talent for making friends, but meeting new ponies, especially when she was overexcited, never went well.

Twilight herself was waiting in one of the rooms that she had purposed into a simple dining hall. Tea was simple to make, as were biscuits. She had made absolutely certain to try and appear as normal a pony as she could, and nothing in the room besides herself seemed overly royal or special. She couldn’t do much about being an alicorn.

When Rose entered and immediately bowed she felt awkward, particularly when Rose didn’t get up immediately. Honest followed suit, and Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself.

“That isn’t necessary.” she said, “I want you to feel comfortable.”

“Of course princess.” Rose said as she got up.

The pair walked to the other side of the table, and Rose waited with the perfect expression of neutrality. Honest was slightly tense.

Twilight fidgeted, trying to work out a way to talk to them without sounding like this was forced. Then she noticed the scales on Honest, and for a moment she was consumed in curiosity instead of nervousness.

“Where did you get that?” she asked.

Honest started. “Get what… princess?”

“The dragon scales.”

“Oh! It was a wedding gift.”

“From my grandmother.” Rose added.

“Do you know where she got them from?”

Rose was beginning to warm to Twilight; Twilight did not come across like royalty.

“Grandmother and I had been traveling, and she got them from two drakes. She made the suit herself, and gave it to Honest when we got married; he wore it during the ceremony.” she said with some pride. She smiled at the scales, and Twilight wondered how anypony would convince two drakes to part with so much.

“Well… maybe I could hear more about you two?”

Rose was slightly stunned. Twilight wanted to hear about them of all ponies?

“Well… I mean, this is an honor Tw, princess.”

“Just Twilight, please?”

Rose blinked, but smiled. “If you want it that way.”

Twilight smiled and nodded, and Rose began telling her about herself, and Honest avoided mention of his shady past. As they shared, she shared, and all three began feeling at ease with one another. Twilight expressed deep sympathy for Rose’s losses, and Rose was endlessly interested in Twilight’s own life, stuffed full of adventure and magic.

“That’s when… grandmother visited me.” she said. “She cheered me up, and I went with her on her journey.”

“Your grandmother was wandering Equestria?”

“Yes! She still is in fact: she is looking for happiness, loyalty, and magic.”

Twilight wondered about that, but Rose made it sound almost normal. Almost.

“We went to Manehatten, and that’s where I met Honest again. We reunited, and would you believe that Celestia came to visit the city on our last day there?”

Honest nodded. “We didn’t get a good view, as we were leaving at the time.”

“And then…” Rose trailed off, realizing that she didn’t recall exactly what had happened then. And that she had no way of explaining the spell or its results without telling Twilight everything.

“Then?” Twilight asked, leaning closer.

Honest looked at Rose who was trying to think of something to fill the void between Manehatten and Eaglemount.

“We just kept going. We went pretty far too, all the way to Eaglemount, following grandmother.”

Twilight blinked. Eaglemount was very far from Manehatten. Across an ocean to be specific, and a place most ponies never traveled to without good cause. It was also northeast from Equestria. That would have tipped her off, if she wasn’t already certain that they were the ones I transported.

Twilight weighed her options. She could pretend to believe them, even if Rose didn’t necessarily lie, and let them continue, hoping that they might tell her about Pinkie or Hag. Or she could confront them, tell them that she saw them on that hill, saw them disappear with Hag and Pinkie, and demand an answer.

She decided to let them continue, and if she didn’t get what she was looking for, then she would be more direct about her desires.

Rose had kept speaking while Twilight was consumed in thought. “It was on the way to Mountainside that Honest proposed to me.”

She gave Honest a happy smile, and he smiled back, neither looking at Twilight.

“He went and found a frost rose for me.” she said, remembering. “It truly is as beautiful as they say.”

“It was only beautiful when you held it.” Honest murmured, causing Twilight to develop a blush.

“You say that even if I have a stick tangled in my hair.” she said, her smile shifting slightly as she giggled, Twilight unable to even speak, slowly blushing more.

“I would. Wouldn’t I?” he practically whispered, turning his head toward Rose.

“We spent two days in Mountainside, me and grandmother planning the wedding.” Rose said, turning to look at Honest.

“The entire town was there.” Honest said, speaking slowly and softly.

“Grandmother had made the whole town and land fill with flowers.”

“She made me the scale suit, and Rose had the most surprised face I’ve ever seen when she saw it.”

“It was perfect as he stood next to me, grandmother by my side, and Pinkie by his own…”

“I looked at her…”

“And I him…”

Together they said, “And I said ‘I do’.” They then leaned forward and gently kissed.

Twilight hit the floor, as red as she could be, rigid and unresponsive. Spike looked inside, saw the scene and then shut the door, not willing to interrupt Rose and Honest, or to revive Twilight who was going to be… strange… when she woke up. Very strange.

Rose and Honest hadn’t noticed during their visit, but the other bearers had been nearby. Fluttershy was much the same as Twilight, and Applejack and Rarity only covered their faces with their hooves at their friend’s inability to deal with romance.

Rarity managed to extract Twilight without the couple noticing (not that that was hard), and they carried her, and Fluttershy, away while Spike led Rose and Honest out.

Once Twilight recovered enough to speak, it was fairly apparent she had forgotten exactly what she had been listening for in the first place. She was a flustered mess for some time until they managed to calm her down to rational levels of thought again.

“Come on Twi, you kin do better n this. Ya didn’t faint when yer brother got married.”

“I know Shining and Cadance, and I wanted them together! It’s very different when other ponies…” she trailed off, turning bright red again.

“Calm yourself darling. I thought it was very romantic. Remember? The dragon scales on Honest, the dress Rose wore, the way that her grandmother made the entire land bloom, how Pinkie stood next to Honest.” she said, putting particular emphasis on the last.

Twilight hesitated, and then groaned and dropped her head. “I didn’t ask them.”

“Nope.”

Twilight sighed. She was happy; they knew Pinkie, but she had thoroughly messed up the opportunity to ask them about it. For a moment she was concerned that she would have to do it all again, but then she recalled that she had made, if not friends, at least acquaintances of Rose and Honest.

She could visit them, and ask them about Pinkie then. Friends visited friends all the time, so it wouldn’t even look strange!

So the plan was made. Twilight was not going to visit the couple. Rarity was, despite Twilight’s desire otherwise. Twilight was simply too important a pony to visit without questions, both from Rose and from the locals.

Rarity had met Rose before, and the two ponies enjoyed one another, making it far more normal for her, the dressmaker, to visit, instead of Twilight, the princess.

Rarity came to Rose’s home at the same time that the girls had, and she hesitated upon seeing them so friendly with her. Why did they know Rose so well? The couple hadn’t been in town that long.

“Good morning Rose!” she called as she came over, the fillies looking up in surprise and Rose smiling at her.

“Rarity! What a surprise! I’d though you would be busy with your shop.”

“I can take a break every now and then to visit a friend.” She looked down at the girls. “I see that you know the CMC. Not too much trouble I hope?”

Rose laughed. “Not at all! Want to come inside for berry bread?”

All of the ponies went inside, where Rose treated them to my own recipe, if you could call it that. Berries stuffed into bread wasn’t hard or particularly impressive.

“Did you get a note from Granny?” Scootaloo asked Rose as the others ate.

“Nothing new I’m afraid. Notes are pretty rare from her, and she is a very busy mare.”

They pouted slightly and Rarity wondered who Scootaloo’s granny was, and why Rose would get letters from her.

Then one of Hag’s birds flew in through the window Rose left open for that purpose, and Rarity started as the girls cheered. Rose caught the bird, and got my note from it.

“Read it!” they cried.

“Hang on, hang on. Alright.” She looked up at Rarity, “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Go ahead darling, I’m somewhat curious as well.” Curious because birds don’t deliver mail in Equestria.

Rose looked at the letter, and cleared her throat. “Dear grandchildren,” she said, imitating Hag’s voice which made Rarity hesitate. Had she heard that voice before?

“I am traveling to High Peak, the capital of Eaglemount. The land is rocky, and barren, and I cannot find many forests here. Just the last day I found this bird, and I suspect it is the last one I shall see for some time.”

“I hope that you are doing well, healthy, and happy. Make sure to eat right, as growing children, born and unborn, need the right stuff to grow. Your Grandmother.”

“For Rose’s eyes alone… Oh! That part’s for me girls. Hang on.”

Rose began reading the rest of my note, detailing my annoyance with Pinkie, and the hope that we find Feather’s past.

Rarity was slightly confused. How did Scootaloo’s grandmother know all the girls and Rose well enough to even know about Rose’s child?

Then Applebloom told her, without actually telling her. “Do ya think grandmother can get back soon miss Rose?”

There had only been one pony who Applebloom called grandmother. Hag. Rose was receiving letters from Hag, and Rarity only barely kept herself from blurting it out.

It was suddenly very important she get that note.

And get it she did, when Rose left it on the table unattended. Rarity had a surprising ability to be sneaky. She brought it back to the others, and they all spent a moment to read the last part:

For Rose’s eyes alone;

I am growing very frustrated with Pinkie. She does not know the meaning of quiet, and unlike your humming, her singing is impossible to get used to. Feather’s is doing well; I got his eyes to glow if he’s looking and he looks most of the time. I think he is upset, or possibly eager. No real way to tell with a skull.

With any luck, High Peak will have his family, or something, and he can pass in peace. Lot of mountains ahead of us. Wish me luck, because these bones are not meant for climbing.

Hag

“Hag’s got Pinkie!?” yelled Applejack after a moment to decipher my writing.

“She is near High Peak? Where is High Peak?”

“At least they are alright.” Fluttershy whispered.

Twilight was preoccupied. She knew High Peak was to the northeast, where Rainbow had gone. For a moment, she hoped that Rainbow could find Pinkie, and rescue her.

Then her spell reacted, and Twilight froze.

Twilight’s tracking charm was a little more than that. She had also made it so that it would tell her about Rainbow’s health, so that she could feel safe.

Rainbow had just been hurt, very badly. Badly enough for the charm to stop working, implying one of four things.

One. The charm might have fallen off and given her a false signal, but that was as rare as cold fire.

Two. Rainbow might have been hurt, and then the charm fell off, which was far more likely. The charm had a chance of overreacting, or maybe breaking.

Three. Rainbow was hurt badly enough to make the spell assume that she was dead or dying and fail which was terrifyingly possible and overlapped with the fourth option.

Four. Hag hurt Rainbow, found the charm and removed it, and now Hag had both Rainbow and Pinkie in her clutches as she continued to High Peak with Feathers, the skull she got from who knew where.

Twilight’s mind settled on the fourth option, the one most likely in her mind to have happened. She thought me evil, and was very convinced of my strange strength.

The others stared as Twilight paled, and then she took a breath.

“We need to go to High Peak girls. Right now.”

As they rushed to try to begin preparations for a trip that long, nopony noticed the girls, listening in on them. Their minds hit on the idea that they could trail after their sisters and see Hag again ahead of schedule.

After all, their sisters had forgiven her, and were only excited over Pinkie.

In any case, the charm had fallen off during the fall. I must have torn it off in my panic, and it laid forgotten in the ravine somewhere.

Undying Loyalty 3

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“Rainbow! Stop climbing the rocks!”

She gave a groan of annoyance, but did stop leaping from rocks as she had taken a liking to doing. She claimed that it helped her to calm down, being up high and, even if only for a moment, being in the air.

“Cut it out!” she yelled back at me, “I am sick of you constantly telling me to stop something!” I frowned at her glare.

“Never.”

We stood there, glaring at each other until Pinkie put herself between us. She gave me a bright smile which at least made me hesitate in my anger and then discard it. I stared at her for a moment before sighing.

I wish that that had been the first or only argument I had with Rainbow. It wasn’t. I had several before and many more to come. Even when Rainbow actually did hurt herself it led to glares and sometimes shouting. If Pinkie wasn’t around me and Rainbow would have turned in different directions and wished we never saw one another again, I am sure of it.

Rainbow herself was feeling frustrated being unable to fly, and very annoyed that I was not letting her see her own wings.

I was doing that so she wouldn’t see how bad they were. Her wings were dying slowly, too hurt to keep going. Without my aid, they would simply decay and eventually fall off of her. As it was, I was pushing myself a bit; my power could heal them, not replace them. If we didn’t find a forest within… something about a month, then nothing would be able to cure her.

We were all a touch strained. Rainbow from her wings, Pinkie from the thought of her friends and my and Rainbow’s fights, and me from several things.

There was simply too much for me to be concerned about . The broken elements, finding what I had to find, worrying about Rose and how I was going to contact her; I hadn’t found a bird for days. Feathers needed to find some kind of closure, and how I was going to stumble on that was a mystery. And then Rainbow.

Yes, I didn’t get along with her, but she was somepony that I had to help. And not just because Pinkie wanted me to.

She was so young, so passionate. Her wings were her life, and I didn’t want to see that fire doused. I owed her; I had caused far too many reasons for her to hate me, even if I had managed to explain it away.

If she lost her wings because of me… It wasn’t something I could stand to see . So I ignored the pain in my own leg and forced myself faster.

Two days after our fall, I was still up during the night, worrying. My mind was consumed with what might happen to us, and what could be happening elsewhere. Rainbow had revealed what my actions were causing in places I couldn’t see and I was thinking about that.

I wanted to protect. To end pain, not cause it. I had lived my life like that, but in Equestria, it seemed that everything I had done had caused great concern or sadness in those near me.

It was in my thoughts that I took out the broken elements and arranged them before me. I took happiness out as well and placed the crystal next them. I t still glowed with a soft pink, but I was resistant to its effects right then. If anything seeing it made me ache a little more. I wanted to see Rose again.

I looked at Rainbow, and was reminded why she was even there. She had come looking for Pinkie, presumed dead. Because of my actions. The rest of them were just as pained, and were continuing to be so if she was any indication of her friends. All those problems I had caused for them all came to mind too.

I looked at Pinkie, and felt guilty . She had made the choice to follow, but I had forced her away from her friends. If I had only seen what I was doing, been a little wiser, then she wouldn’t be with me, happy in her normal life.

Maybe it would have even been for the best if I had let them catch me back on that hill.

I looked at the elements again and gently tapped them. My blindness had shattered them, and started everything. I had assumed, and my assumptions had caused more pain than anything I had heard of.

It was then that I recalled that the elements protected Equestria. And if they were broken, then what was protecting it now? What threat may find out, and act upon this?

I laid my head down and shut my eyes. No one I had heard of had done such devastation around them. Nopony in Equestria would have ever messed up as badly as I had. Thinking about everything I caused, and what else I might have caused, tears collected in my eyes.

I thought that perhaps it might have been better had I found my death with my village. That my spell would have worked and I found peace in vengeance and died in my hut all that time ago. At least then I wouldn’t have hurt anything. I began considering my life as near worthless; I was little more than a problem to ponies it seemed.

I know that I was silent in my tears. I’m not sure how she woke, and I didn’t notice Pinkie come over until she laid next to me and grabbed me in a simple hug. I didn’t really respond, the pair of us just staring at the broken elements.

After a moment Pinkie gave a tiny sigh. “Even like that, they still look special.”

“Broken. By my hoof.”

“You’re fixing them.”

“Leaving a trial of pain and tears behind me.”

“No you’re not.”

“Look at Rainbow. Remember what she said. I have hurt ponies, continue to hurt ponies, and for the life of me I can’t seem to stop. Even you; your friends are in pain, and that leaves you in agony. Because of me.”

Pinkie was silent for a moment. “What about Rose?” she asked. I shook my head.

“I’m going to hurt her too. I don’t know how, but I am going to end up doing so someday. I seem fated to.”

“She wouldn’t want to see you like this. I don’t want to see you like this Hag.”

“I have nothing but regrets now.” I said, and then sighed. I heard Pinkie hum to herself, thinking.

“Well… I don’t regret anything.”

“Why?” I asked with more than a little venom.

“I met you.”

“You met a monster who tore you away and hurt everypony you care for.” I hissed, “A monster who shattered your peace and the elements. Meeting me is nothing, less than nothing.”

“That’s not true.”

“How Pinkie? How is it not?”

“Remember back when you first met me? After you broke my element, I was having a hard time smiling. You saw that, and you stopped yourself to try and cheer me up. ‘Find what makes you happy’ you said. And… I learned something important.” I waited, listening.

“We don’t need the elements to be ourselves. They help, sure, but I can be as happy as I want to be anytime I want to be. I found happiness with you, and Rainbow is still as loyal as she can be. The elements support us, but we don’t need them. I think that we might be stronger when we have to go without them.”

“And when you were caring for the CMC, everypony was worried, but that helped too. The fillies don’t always get along with everypony; they can be… a little chaotic. But when they were missing, everypony remembered how they loved them, and when they came back that stuck. I never saw Rarity so concerned over Sweetie before.”

“You met Rose, and helped her to come out of a really sad place and find happiness. When I charged after you, I found what kind of pony you were when we were flying through that spell.”

“I saw that you wanted to help. That you were terrified, but for us, not for yourself. Even in those cold woods, you were fighting to keep us happy.”

“You hurt a lot of ponies, sure, but… look at your cutie mark. Broken notes, a broken harmony. You have a talent for breaking things.”

“So I am cursed then.” I muttered.

“Not really. See how they are so close together that you can tell what they were? You have a talent for breaking things… but you can also fix them.”

“Look at me. I was sad because you broke my element, but then I found you and now, I am happier than I ever have been. No matter what happened, and what might happen, I treasure that I met you Hag. And nothing can take that away.”

“…Really?”

“Really really. I just know that you are going to fix everything so good that everypony will think the same way. Even Rainbow, and Twilight, and Celestia. You can turn pain into happiness so good that they will forget the pain.”

“… Pinkie…”

“Yeah Hag?”

“I… can you promise me one thing?” She nodded.

“If I ever start to mess up again… If I start faltering for any reason… Will you be there to help me? No matter what?”

“Pinkie promise!”

I watched her do her little ritual, feeling much better. Pinkie was a shining beacon of hope, something for me to cling to. But I had one final fear that I didn’t tell her.

I could feel it inside me. A tiny portion of dark magic. The result of anger, sadness, and Discord’s spell somehow interacting to cause my own magic to slowly corrupt. It was why I knew I was going to hurt Rose.

I was not going to continue living much longer. The growth was slow, very slow, but I would be consumed by it in less than a year. I didn’t know what might happen then, but nothing good could come of dark magic.

Pinkie guided me from despair, but I still feared. I didn’t know what was going to happen, and that was terrifying me. I had never heard of any mortal being able to produce dark magic before. It was entirely new.

But it was something I could hide away, and push out of my mind until I had to face it. As Pinkie fell asleep I placed the elements and happiness back in my sack and settled down. After a moment I heard a buzzing sound, and spotted some dark shape flying away.

I dismissed it as a product of my fear. It was probably just some insect that looked bigger than it actually was.

Undying Loyalty 4

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“Why can’t I see?”

“Because you might get upset. Lie down and relax Rainbow.”

“Upset how? Come on Hag.”

“No, stop trying to turn your head this way.”

“Stop stopping me from looking!”

I struggled with her for a moment before giving up. “Pinkie!”

“Hag?”

“Distract Rainbow for me.”

“Hang on! Tell Hag to let me see my wings!” Rainbow objected. Pinkie looked at me and I shook my head. She nodded. I turned away and began unwrapping her bandages.

“Let me… what the…”

Whatever Pinkie was doing, it was working at least. Rainbow was no longer trying to look back. I got the bandages off of her and winced.

Crumpled wings, dark stains of blood, feathers falling out… They didn’t look good at all. A tiny bit of examination and I had a hard time keeping silent. They were dying.

I could already see some black flesh. And if they died, then I couldn’t fix her wings:

They would have to come off. And the price to gain a new pair might be very, very high. A gift like that might require a life or several to grant. I had to stop them before they died, and Rainbow wasn’t going to appreciate it.

“Alright Rainbow… this is going to hurt, so close your eyes and think happy things for me.” I said.

“What?” she said, starting from her daze.

“Pinkie, hold her head for me.”

“What’s the… Pinkie! Let go!”

I do admit, Pinkie is amazingly strong at times. I could barely hold Rainbow. Pinkie got her unable to so much as shift. I heard her trying to saying something soothing while I grabbed hold of a wing and extended it.

Large patches of missing feathers, and just a few spots of illness. I had caught it early. That made it a little easier.

Life wasn’t making its way into the wings anymore. They were disconnected from the body, hence why they were dying and why Rainbow couldn’t feel them anymore.

I took a deep breath, and extended the other. This would be much faster if I did both at the same time.

I called what power I had, and carefully watched Rainbow’s soul. Every soul has a rhythm to it, and I could, and would, take advantage of that. I saw the life stuck at the base of her wings, bunching up with every thump of her heart and waited.

“Happy thoughts.” I reminded her, noticing her growing nervousness.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, a note of fear in her voice, her heart and soul beating a little faster.

I saw my chance and took it. I shifted her wings, used my power to grab the life and force it forward. I saw the blockage shift, but not enough, so I pulverized it with her own life force.

Rainbow screamed as if her life was being sucked out, but life was inching back into her wings again. I watched it go, helping it along as Rainbow screamed and tried to thrash from the pain of it. Pinkie held on and prevented her from doing so to my relief.

She had been worse than I had expected. But it was a bit better now.

When the life filled her wings again, I carefully folded them, Rainbow sobbing with every motion until I could carefully bandage them again.

Rainbow was a mess with the pain. She could feel her wings again, and nopony wants to feel a limb that has been mangled like that. I thought about giving her thorn vine, but dismissed it. She needed something stronger and longer lasting.

I fished in my pouch until I found the nastier geggiro, also known as ice thorn. I readied myself with one of its needle-like thorns, and then carefully jabbed it into the base of her wings. She never felt its sting, but the cold numbness its poison gave her eased the agony of her wings. And it would do so for days.

I used it very little, but I knew it well. It was the strongest numbing poison I had, more than enough to kill if I used too much. Too hard, too deep, too long, or even in the wrong spot, and her heart would stop. I took great care when stabbing her with it, knowing that she would be pain free for at least a week with the poison.

I pulled it out after a moment, and I saw the pain in her soul fading . A touch too little, the strike just a bit too shallow,, but Rainbow was a tough girl. She could handle a few aches.

I went back to her head, her breathing hard, tears drying on face. She looked worn and exhausted, slowly losing consciousness in some combination of pain and the ice thorn.

“...Hag?” Pinkie asked softly, watching Rainbow.

“Yes?” I asked, carefully watching to make sure that she was going to be alright. You never knew with ice thorns; sometimes they had more poison in them than normal.

“That… really hurt her. Was it for the best?”

I looked at Pinkie who looked unsure. She had a few tears in her own eyes.

“… Yes. Other ways might have kept her for a few days, but I can’t guarantee we will find a forest in a few days. This will keep her healthy until I can truly heal her.”

I looked back at Rainbow who was beginning to fall asleep and sighed.

“Though… I don’t want to see her hurt either Pinkie. I do what must be done, but I sometimes hate having to do it.” I looked back to Pinkie and asked her, “But what is the better choice? Taking chances with her life, or putting her through agony so that she will live? Less pain for a chance, or lots for the knowledge that it will get better?”

Pinkie looked like she didn’t know.

Some days, I don’t know.

Balancing that choice, deciding whether or not to do something is very difficult.

How long will it take for something to heal, or for me to be able to heal it? If I didn’t know, I had to choose the action that gave me the most time. Which was almost always the most painful.

I had people die because I tried to spare them pain before. And even then, it is… regrettable that I have to choose the most painful option. Particularly in Rainbow’s case.

I think I might have pulverized some bone, and she probably had felt that. But I needed to save her wings. I couldn’t take the chance that a forest was right ahead. If I had left them alone, I would have maybe two days before they were gone too far. And I might not have even done that.

Rainbow's jumping had gotten me worried enough to decide to finally check, particularly when she kept insisting she didn't feel any pain.

Thinking about it, if she hadn't constantly done so and and listened to me, I might have failed to notice in time at all.

“She will get better, and I’ll make it up to her somehow.” I said. “Get some rest Pinkie… stay near Rainbow. She’ll appreciate a familiar face near her.”

“Will she still be hurting?”

“Only a vague ache. Nothing bad.” I said, leaving. I knew Rainbow wasn’t going to want to see me in the morning.

I laid down a bit away and tried to relax. Tried to put my doubts out of my head and find some rest.

I was only somewhat successful.

“Hag? Hag, wake up!”

I stirred from my slumber, and saw Pinkie smiling at me. For a moment I had a hard time recalling.

“Hag, Rainbow isn’t mad at you!” she near squealed.

I blinked at her. “Help me up.” I said, trying to get up on my own.

Pinkie did so and I saw Rainbow nearby. She looked much better now, though more… gentle with herself. She saw me and just watched as I got my stick.

“What is this I hear?” I asked, walking over to her. "You're not mad?"

“You say it Rainbow!”

Rainbow looked away for a moment before sighing. “Whatever you did, I think it was the right thing Hag. I feel… good right now. Better than I have been anyway.”

She looked at her bandages. “I even kind of feel my wings again. Even if they do kinda hurt.”

“That is the effect of ice thorn. If the pain gets worse, tell me.” I said, unsure. “… I really hurt you.”

“You were trying to make it better and… it wasn’t that bad.”

I gave her a look and she couldn’t look me in the eye, but was determined to keep that statement.

“You’re not mad or anything?” I asked.

“No.”

“Pinkie have to calm you down?”

“No. Why? I mean, it made sense, right? You were doing what you had to, and you really tried to make it as painless as possible for me so why would I…”

A tension they hadn’t seen in me melted away and I gave a faint laugh and collapsed.

“Hag!” they both yelled.

“I… I’m fine girls.” I managed from the ground, so relieved. “Just a little… tired.”

The entire night I had been plagued with nightmares. I had slept very little because of them, though they came back every time I closed my eyes.

Starting with me messing up her wings, and killing one or both. Then it was me overusing the ice thorn, and seeing her heart slow and stop from its poison. Rainbow hating me, Pinkie hating me. I thought it couldn’t get worse.

But it did. I saw myself… making her suffer. Ripping her wings off, crushing the bone, jerking the wings. Stabbing her over and over and over again… And I couldn’t stop it. The dark magic had overcome me, and I was… enjoying killing her.

It was like I had been trapped in myself. My doubts manifest and my fears given life. I had woken with a dread in my heart, and it hadn’t gone until Rainbow had told me that she wasn’t mad. That she didn’t need an explanation.

I hadn’t messed up. She was just fine. I did the right thing. It was such a good thing to hear.

Rainbow helped me up after a moment, and supported me as I wobbled.

“Pinkie! Get the stretcher!”

“There really isn’t any need.” I said, shaking the remaining effect off and standing normally.

“Your leg is broken, remember?”

“And I can walk on my own three hooves.”

Rainbow gave me a doubtful look but let me move away from her. Pinkie headed over and began following me as I walked forward, determined to reach the end of the ravine sometime soon.

“I can kind of see why Scootaloo calls you Granny.” Rainbow remarked as we went.

“Really?” I asked, glancing back at her.

She nodded. “You’re really tough, have all those rules, and are more stubborn than a mule.” She saw my slight frown and added, “But you also care. You really want me to get better, and are concerned over me and Pinkie. I can bet you were the same way with the fillies.”

She chuckled. “I see you better now I think. Sure, you make mistakes, but doesn’t everypony? I can’t count the number of times I flew right into somepony’s house… And you try to fix them. And even when it wasn’t your fault, you try to fix them. Like my wings.”

“I don’t have a single idea how you got the power you do, but I don’t really care anymore. You want to use it for good, and that makes a lot of difference for this mare.”

“… That means a lot to me Rainbow.”

“So… Friends?”

I smiled back at her. “Friends.”

Pinkie blew on some kind of loud whistle that she suddenly had and tossed shredded paper into the air.

“Pinkie!” I yelled, the pink mare simply grabbing me and Rainbow and pulling all three of us into a hug as we kept walking, Pinkie in the middle.

“The traveling trio!” she crowed, and began singing, making the song up on the spot I suspect.

I stared at her, and then looked at Rainbow. I saw my own slight discomfort reflected in her eyes. We shared a grin and simply let Pinkie sing as we went.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, and much… calmer. After trying to fix her wings, Rainbow understood me better. And I her.

In many, many ways, we were alike. I was far older than she was, but I used to think like she did. Brash, strong, doing the right thing no matter what... I listened to experience, but then again, not always.

At first we grated on each other, but now, we complimented one another. I was gentler with her, less demanding and more asking. She, in turn, was more respectful, more caring. We both bonded, at least a little.

We became... friends. I now had two, Pinkie and Rainbow; Rose doesn’t count. She’s family.

It was four more days of travel before we found a way up. And to my delight, a forest at the very end of the ravine. Pinkie was happy with me, Rainbow slightly confused over my joy.

“I don’t get it.” she said.

“I can fix you now Rainbow!” I cried. “I just need a little bit of time to do so.”

She perked up. “Really?”

I nodded. “I just need to make a few preparations first. Just wait here for me; I’ll be right back.”

I headed into the wood alone, planning to do more than simple healing. I was going to ask for a few things, for… gifts. Something special for Pinkie and Rainbow and I wanted it to be a surprise.

So I walked into the woods until I was fairly far, sure that neither pony would hear or see anything. I went farther too, just in case.

I stopped in a clearing and relaxed. Then I called the forest.

I got just a touch of a response, but something stopped it. Something blocked its voice.

A few things could do that, all of them bad. I hoped, really, really hoped, that it wasn’t a nightmare. Sometimes I wonder if it might have been better if it had been a nightmare.

“Hag? Is something wrong?”

“Pinkie?” I turned and saw her walking over, looking around her. She seemed a touch concerned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, coming over to me.

“I told you to stay behind.” I said. Something was wrong. The forest around me strained to speak.

“I just thought I should come anyway.” she said, looking around again. I knew then, and turned around. “I think something is… Hag?”

I bucked her, and distinctly felt something hard, like I had hit armor.

A shifter of some kind I thought. A good one too; the sight had been perfect. The only flaw had been my paranoia from the silent forest and that Pinkie always listened to me. She wouldn’t have followed me.

Only one problem really. Shifters were fey.

There were no fey in Equestria.

I turned and saw a pony that resembled an insect, shaking its head as it tried to recover from my strike. It had two wings that I could see through and a hooked horn, black chitin covering it like an insect. Its legs had holes in them for some reason.

I didn’t let it recover, and struck out at it, my hooves pummeling the thing. It would have worked, if not for the other four.

I backed away as they came forward, hissing at me. The forest was silent, heaving under some force that kept it from me. I could feel its efforts to reach me, the desperation it had. Whatever I faced, they were bad. Yet, they stayed back slightly, hissing at me and buzzing their wings. I thought they were waiting for a chance, and kept glaring at them, trying to guess how I was going to get away form them.

That was when something struck me from behind. An incredibly painful stabbing pain right in my back, a burning heat and a sudden feeling of pressure, all at once that left me near voiceless.

I stumbled, trembling from it, but managed to stay up and look behind me, seeing another one. That one looked bigger and smarter.

“It worked.” It said, smirking at me. “And so well.”

The forest screamed in my head, but it couldn’t help me. Whatever had hit me was blocking me from speaking to it; whatever had hit me had blocked it, and now, it blocked me. My power was locked up inside me, and it was agony. Like I had sharp points jabbing into me everywhere.

I growled at him, and he looked surprised.

“You’re still standing.” he commented, the pain slowly beginning to ebb, although in no good way; I knew what sudden numbness in injuries might mean. “That’s not supposed to… what… what are you?”

“I… can ask… the same.” I managed, trying and failing to move, either pain or numbness preventing me form doing much. He chuckled.

“We are changelings." he said, making me growl again, wondering if that fairy had lied to me. Why it might have, I don't know, but fairies don;t always need a reason to lie. "And let me spell this out for you;”

“Our queen is very interested in you, and what you have. Now, we can do this the easy way, where you give me what we want, or the hard way. You won't like the hard way. So tell me; what it’s going to be, Hag? Give me the elements you have.”

That wasn’t good. I felt I knew what they were, and was wondering what I had done to upset... certain beings such that they would come after me like this. Fey were vicious, but they normally preferred words, not sudden stabs with whatever was in my back. I just knew that I was not going to give them what they wanted, but was hiving trouble figuring out how I was going to stop them from just taking it.

I had one idea, and it was a little stupid.

“Well?” he asked, the changelings creeping a little closer. I took a deep breath.

“Pinkie!” I yelled, as loudly as I could with as much desperation as I could manage.

The big one laughed. “Nopony is going to hear you. We are far too… what is that?”

I smirked even as I trembled as the numbness slowly grew more complete. Distant, but coming closer was a cry, long and drawn out:

“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggg!”

And Pinkie shot from the forest to slam into the leader who had just an instant to look shocked before the pink blur took them both from my sight. The rest looked stunned, and Rainbow followed, ramming into one mostly by accident, but swiftly realizing.

She was good. I relied on the forest to power my strength, but Rainbow was just strong. Those four probably regretted being near her. I know I would have, if I had been them.

When the last slammed into a tree, she hurried to me.

“Hag! Hag, are you alright!?”

“I’ve been… worse.” I said, wincing. The pain had faded, but I felt numb and powerless. Cut off from the land.

“You’ll…” Rainbow stared at my back and paled.

“He got away.” Pinkie remarked as she returned. “Are you…”

Pinkie gave the loudest gasp I had ever heard and zipped to my side babbling. I saw her hoof with blood on it, and she touched something on my back.

The pain came back instantly, and I feel to my knees, hissing from it. I could hear them yelling, nearly panicked. The forest was screaming, angry that it hadn’t been able to help, and desperate to aid me. But it couldn’t.

Somehow, the changelings had cut me off. I was no more a hag than Pinkie or Rainbow. And something was deep in my back, though I couldn’t really feel it. The pain was everywhere, my life wavering from it. My very magic felt painful, somehow.

I tried and failed to remain awake. It was too hard. Without my power, I was weak; just an old woman.

The voices faded as the darkness claimed me.

Undying Loyalty 5

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Pinkie and Rainbow carried Hag upwards, hurrying toward High Peak, desperation giving them speed.

Hag herself was on the stretcher, and wasn’t moving much. Very little in fact, her breathing shallow and slow.

In her back was a spike. Something made of dark metal, jagged and dug into her. It was stuck fast, and blood slowly seeped from the wound, the metal preventing her from bleeding much.

It hadn’t stopped bleeding either. Whatever was in her prevented her from healing properly for some reason, and neither Pinkie nor Rainbow had any idea what they should do about it. Neither had any medical knowledge, and both had the feeling that helping Hag was going to require magic.

High Peak was their only hope of finding something that could help Hag, even if it was a griffon. Somepony must have some medical experience in the city, and it was with that thought that they climbed.

In their speed and desperation, neither noticed the small group following them. Four rather hurt changelings, and one upset group leader. He hadn’t expected the resistance they had received, but the queen had ordered them to continue following. To observe, and learn more.

It was only two day later that Pinkie and Rainbow were waiting in High Peak’s hospital. It wasn’t really meant for ponies, but they had said that they would try.

Both ponies were tired and worn, but concern over Hag kept them going. They were dirty, hadn’t slept at all, and slightly bruised from their flight and fight with the changelings.

Anypony seeing them would think that they had been in a difficult fight. Particularly with Rainbow’s bandages, and the way she winced every now and then; the ice thorn was slowly wearing off.

They were alone as they waited, and when a griffon came from elsewhere, they jumped up.

“How is she!?” Rainbow asked.

“I am Doctor Mending Feathers. Are you relations to Hag?”

“Just good friends.” Pinkie told him. He nodded.

“Follow me.”

He led them to one room, where Hag slept on a bed. She was bandaged, but the spike was still in her.

“Is she doing better?” Pinkie asked, worried.

“We have done our best, but you must understand we are not trained for pony healing. Hag is a rather old mare as well.”

Rainbow glared at Mending. He was being evasive.

“She’ll get better, right?” she asked, glaring still.

“Healing can take a very long time sometimes, and in a few cases things simply cannot heal, as in the case with a lost limb. Hag is remarkably durable and she is a very strong pony.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Well…”

Rainbow growled, but stopped, sensing something off.

“Tell us.”

Both she and Mending looked at Pinkie. Her mane and tail were straight, and any indication of the happy bouncy pink mare was gone. There was a dangerous element to her voice and eyes.

“I…”

“Tell. Us.”

Her statement was less demand more than it was undeniable order, and Mending fidgeted before sighing.

“The metal in Hag has pierced her spinal column and has jabbed a few important internal organs. By some miracle, it hasn’t killed her already, and she is only alive right now because it is preventing her from dying in at least three ways.”

“Hag is… I've seen dragons less hardy. Any pony should have been dead in an instant from that injury. Hag has survived two days without treatment and that sounds like lunacy if I hadn’t seen the proof.”

“In light of that, the prognosis is… bad. We can do nothing without harming her further, and Hag is likely to die in two to three days as her internal systems shut down. There is a chance she will last the week, but…”

“We don’t have the skill or the magic to keep her alive while we remove the shard. There is no time to transport her anywhere that they could either, and trying to fly her can easily make the shard shift and kill her outright.”

“We will contact you when we feel the time is close, but… perhaps you should say your goodbyes now, in case she passes suddenly.”

Rainbow simply stood stock still, and Pinkie looked down, an air of extreme sadness over her.

“But magic?” she asked rather quietly.

“We are griffons. A griffon mage hasn’t been seen for… a very, very long time. Magic is a pony trait I am afraid.”

Pinkie nodded.

Rainbow shook her head. “There has to be something! Something you can do!”

“I just said…”

Rainbow got much closer to him, growling and angry. “Some kind of artifact or special griffon thing! Come on!”

“There is nothing like that, and there never has been.”

Rainbow growled, and if not for Pinkie grabbing onto her hind leg, might have done something she would have regretted. She turned to see Pinkie, and most of her anger was washed away by the sight of her.

Rainbow landed, and stomped, huffing. Then she simply wandered near Hag and sat down, not looking at anypony. Pinkie sat next to Hag, and simply watched her sleeping face.

Mending left, slightly relieved. He was the only one in the hospital with any experience in dealing with ponies . He had been entirely honest; there was nothing they could do for Hag.

He noted the late hour and sighed. It was about time for him to leave and go home, and he supposed that leaving fifteen minutes early wouldn’t make a difference. He had nothing else to do after all.

And just as he got to the entrance, four more ponies entered and he flinched slightly. Then he sighed, and decided that duty came first.

He approached them and asked, “Is something hurt?”

He hesitated, noting that the purple unicorn was in fact, an alicorn. Unheard of in Eaglemount. She looked up at him.

“No, but could you answer a question or two?”

“Most likely…”

“Has anypony named either Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, or Hag, been in High Peak at all?”

Mending thought. He was very unsure why she was asking . An alicorn was… royalty or something, right? From someplace across the sea…

Why was she in a hospital with her… retinue asking about a patient and the other two ponies?

“Can I know why?” he hazarded.

“Two are our friends, and the other is…”

“An acquaintance.” the white unicorn said for her, smiling.

“Yes. That.”

Mending was beginning to think that something was wrong. He made a choice.

“I have only been in the hospital for most of the day. If they have been in High Peak, I don’t know.”

They nodded and left as one, and he watched them go, wondering. Then he shook his head, and would have taken a step forward if he hadn’t spotted something else.

Three fillies, hiding nearby. They waited until the group was gone before sneaking out and heading over.

Mending watched them come, wondering what was going on. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the strange.

“Excuse me sir?” the white unicorn said.

“…Yes?”

“Have ya seen our grandmother?”

“Grandmother…” He thought for a moment before shaking his head. Adults lied, but fillies… well, they wouldn’t lie about things like family. “I might have. What does she look like?”

They perked up.

“Granny is an old earth pony!”

“With silver hair and white fur.”

“An her cutie mark is a big thin, kind like…” the yellow one looked to the others.

“Music?” the pegasus asked more than said.

“She has six broken notes in a line sir.” the unicorn said.

Mending groaned. He didn’t like dealing with upset ponies. Particularity upset fillies.

“I do know her…”

“Where!?”

“Please tell us!”

“An quick, afore they catch us.”

Mending missed that last comment. “Room 105, just down the hall over there. I’ll be right with you, just don’t touch..!”

He watched them speed off and sighed. Then he turned to see the same group of four enter and spread out, checking under tables and chairs while the alicorn came over to him.

“Hello,” she said, “I am Twilight Sparkle, and I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me?”

“…You just recently asked me that.”

She looked confused. “This is the first time I came in here.”

“I am very sure that you and your retinue were just in here, asking about… things.”

Twilight thought for a moment before nodding. She reached into a pouch and produced a sheet of paper which she gave to him.

“Does this help?”

He eyed it, and his eyes widened at the seal. Everyone knew who Celestia was, and it was very potent proof that the alicorn was who she said she was. An important individual.

“My apologies your majesty.”

“Just Twilight, please.”

“I will do my best to help you.”

She nodded happily. “Two of my group have little sisters that have… wandered off I am afraid. They came with us, but ran off when we arrived in High Peak. They are good girls, just a little high spirited sometimes.”

He nodded slowly. “Which two?”

“Applejack, the orange earth pony over there, and Rarity, the white unicorn.”

He looked at them and saw a family resemblance between them and the fillies. Rarity looked a little like Hag, but Applejack was very different. He figured that she must have remarried at some point in time.

“I do have some... bad news for you all then.” he said, preparing himself for their reaction. They gathered before him, curious.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, unsure.

“They are with their grandmother, but she is very, very hurt.” he said, waiting for a cry of ‘no, it can’t be!’ or something similar from Applejack and Rarity.

All four looked horrified, and then unsure. Confused.

“Hurt?” Twilight asked, befuddled.

Mending shrugged and attributed the reaction to a strange form of denial.

“Just this way.” he said, and led them to Hag’s room.

He opened the door and stepped inside, Rainbow having joined Pinkie next to Hag’s bed. Scootaloo was holding onto her, crying, and the other two were sitting next to Pinkie, sobbing.

The group seemed to be having a hard time knowing what to do or say. Then Twilight approach slowly, and asked, “…Pinkie?”

She looked at Twilight with great sadness. She sniffled, tried to give a smile, and stood up, facing the group.

“H, Hey guys…” she managed, her voice tight. “I… I’m… I’m not… dead…” she teared up a little at the last and looked at Hag again.

Twilight was caught. She was overjoyed at having Pinkie back, but Pinkie was devastated. So was Rainbow. Both ponies were hurt and upset and she didn’t know why.

Or more accurately, it was obviously because of Hag, but why were they so upset over Hag? Twilight didn’t want to see her dead, but she was a stranger. A problem, right?

Fluttershy hugged Pinkie, and Applejack went to Applebloom who grabbed onto her leg, still sobbing.

Rarity looked unsure, and Sweetie went to her before looking up with tears in her eyes.

“I don’t… want it to… to be like this…” she whimpered, before grabbing Rarity’s leg and crying harder. Rarity looked to Twilight.

“Darling… what is going on?”

“I… Rainbow?”

“I don’t want to talk right now.” she said, her voice very different from her normal tone, not looking at anypony.

Pinkie abruptly started, and whirled back to Twilight.

“Twilight! You can save her!”

“I can do what?”

“You can teleport Hag to Canterlot!” Pinkie yelled. Rainbow hesitated before gasping and looking over, her eyes red with crying, but both ponies filling with hope.

“Unicorn doctors!” Rainbow said.

Pinkie nodded. “Twilight please, please, please, help her.”

Twilight hesitated before looking at Hag. She saw the bloody bandages, saw the spike and hesitated.

“I… girls, I can’t.”

Pinkie stared, but Rainbow yelled, “Why not!?”

“Hag is…”

Rainbow interrupted her, stomping closer. “I don’t care what Hag is! She is hurt and dying, and you are the only one who can do something about it!”

“Rainbow, I…”

“Just because Hag messed up doesn’t mean you get to make that choice! She did bad things, but she is trying to fix them! Make them better! Like my wings.”

“Your wings?”

“I got them pretty bad. And Hag is the one fixing them.”

Twilight hesitated. “Rainbow, just listen to me…”

“Help her!”

“LISTEN TO ME!” Twilight screamed, making everypony stop and look at her. “Just. Listen for a half minute, O.K!?”

She waited for a second and then nodded, relaxing again.

“Right. Now, under normal circumstance, I would transport Hag, and I know that the doctors at Canterlot could save her, most likely anyway. But I can’t, and they can’t.”

“Can we ask why?” Rarity said, speaking softly and carefully.

“That shard is anti-magic. I can’t even so much as touch her, and her own magic has been disrupted by it. So long as it is in her, I can’t teleport her, and the moment it is removed, the resultant magical forces will kill Hag instantly. The chaos as her system tries to right itself would tear her apart, and possibly anypony nearby.”

“I am not doing this because of anything I think about Hag. Do we all understand now?”

They all nodded slowly, and Pinkie gave a tiny sob. Rainbow looked away, and resumed sitting in her spot.

“…Sorry Twi. I’m just…”

“I know Rainbow. I know. You can tell me all about it later. We have…” she looked over at Mending, “How long is visitor’s hours?”

“Well… They actually ended a half hour ago, but I can spare another if they need it.” he said.

“Thank you.” Twilight said. And then she sat next to her friends, and all of them sat, some in tears, some trying to comfort the others. Hag slept peacefully, her breathing slow, unknowing of the world around her.

And a short while later, the ponies left together, and the hospital closed. Night fell and the moon rose as they went to a hotel, and slowly, Pinkie and Rainbow began relating the tale of Hag to the rest of the group, still upset over her impending demise.

And unknown to all of them, griffons left their homes in the dead of night, and went to the castle in High Peak. They did so quietly, carefully, flying through the darkness until slipping inside the light within.

Undying Loyalty End

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I was in pain. Great pain. Trapped within my own body by whatever the changeling stabbed me with.

I was wondering why nopony had removed it. I also wondered how long I spent like that, poised on the edge of death.

I could do nothing about it. Discord’s magic was the only thing keeping me from falling into death, catching me in a giant web of golden strands. Nothing I had in me could pull me from the edge. I was helpless, and time was not a thing I could measure in that state. There was no indication of anything except my own thoughts.

And somewhat worse; whatever had hit me had damaged Discord’s spell. Whatever destroyed my magic was unraveling his weave.

String by string, I was dropping. It might take a while, but I was slowly dying again.

And I could do nothing about it.

I could simply watch my descent, and think of all the lives I was going to either make very sad, or very difficult. Rose and Honest, Pinkie and Rainbow… I never fixed the elements and I suspected that I might be the only one who could.

Really, I thought it was a miracle that nothing had happened to the ponies without their defense. Their lives continued unabated despite that though.

I was an idiot for thinking that.

But think it I did as I waited for my eventual drop.

It was then a claw reached out for me. Worrisome perhaps, but it came from above and not below. I grabbed onto it and it pulled me away from the edge from the darkness and toward the light.

My eyes opened to a darkened room. The pain was still present, but it wasn’t enough to send me back to darkness.

“Who…” I said, barely able to speak at all. It was barely a raspy whisper.

“You called me Feathers.”

I saw him. The ghost of the griffon standing nearby. I suppose I was hurt enough that I was simply… closer to him so to speak. Seeing the dead as a perfectly normal mortal was not possible, and yet, there he was.

Implying that I was far too hurt for my comfort.

“I need your help Hag. Already it might be too late, but I won’t fail my duty.”

“Help… I would… gladly… give… but…”

He reached a claw out to me, and I realized what he intended. But he also stopped before touching me, and waited. I looked at the claw and then at him.

“I won’t do this unless you say yes.”

“… There’s… much pain.”

“Any pain can be born upon my back. All I ask is that you give me the body I need.”

“Share…”

“Guide me, and I will listen to all that you say. You are the reason I have this chance after all. Without you, I would never have been here.”

I managed to twitch the hoof and he took it. And he flowed into me and I felt his soul burden most of my pain without a single flinch.

Together we stood from the bed. And I let him guide me, only putting my own control when he was going to stumble in a pony body.

We walked out into High Peak late at night. It was raining, and Feathers headed toward the castle with some purpose. I noticed several things.

The first was that the castle was well lit. I assumed that was unusual considering the slightly neglected look it had.

The second was that the city was slightly empty, implying that a fair number of griffons were inside. But the third gave me hope.

I don’t know if it was a natural talent, or simply some function of two souls bolstering a dying body, but I could see Feathers soul.

And if he wasn’t capable of being a shaman, then I was a mayfly.

We reached the main door, and shoved together. It was locked, but after a moment a griffon opened it and peered out. We walked right under him.

The inside was a great hall, the ceiling rising high above. A feast was being held and a great many griffons were in attendance.

Most of whom stopped and stared as the half-dead, soaked pony with the spike in her back walked past them.

We stopped in the center of the room, and Feathers was staring at one griffon in particular. I couldn’t tell the difference between the creatures, but that one stood out.

His wings were very impressive. I bet that he took great pride in them.

The room was silent for a time. The griffons wondering what was going on.

“Hello brother.” I spat, Feathers' words coming from my mouth.

“What is this?” he asked. “No pony is my family. Who let her in here?”

“She just… walked in my lord.”

“Then walk her right back out!”

I felt Feathers anger. And the griffons seemed ill at ease to actually touch me. I suppose it was the spike in my back.

“Lord? You took the title? You claim rulership?” I asked as a few slowly approached.

I turned to look at them. “My kin! I have returned to warn you! To bring this crime to the light!”

“Crime?” one asked.

“I am Swift. Returned from my own death…”

“At the claws of my brother, Greatwing.”

“Impossible.” Greatwing said. “Get rid of her already!”

“Who will?” I asked. “Perhaps you Blackfeather? Or will you bring yourself to Stonebeak? Who here has the will to deny justice?”

Upon mentioning their names, the griffons backed away.

“Is it truly…”

“But… but how?”

“So she knows your names! Lots of ponies know you! She is here to cause trouble and nothing more!” Greatwing said, glaring at them. “She is little more than lies designed to entice you into thinking that my departed brother has actually returned! Who here thinks that I would kill my own brother!?”

The griffons around me nodded, emboldened. They approached me again.

“All of you are being tricked!” I yelled. “By all that is right, listen!”

None of them did, though a few still seemed unsure.

I yelled and turned my head skyward. “If there be any justice in this world then let it come! I will not be unheard, I will not let this crime pass unpunished!”

“Whatever power there be, hear my cry! Judge us all, and bring our souls to bear!”

Most of the griffons actually stopped to look around worriedly. Like they suspected that something might actually happen from the sheer emotion that Feathers, or Swift, was speaking with.

A few moments passed and one of them gave a nervous laugh. That seemed to be the end of it as the rest sighed in relief and one finally got the courage to lay his claws on me.

That’s when every door shut at the same time and locked by themselves. Every candle was snuffed out by a strong wind, and then relit with an azure flame.

I smiled as the magic gathered, glowing rings appearing around me and Greatwing. The griffons themselves were slightly panicked at the events, and when the shining chains grabbed us both a fair number of them simply took to the air.

I knew that Feathers, or maybe the both of us together, had called the order. The judgement was starting.

Greatwing couldn’t even move though he tried. The only part free of chains was the head.

“The order has been called and the truth shall be known.” I said, pushing Feathers aside for a moment. “All present are witnesses to this. Let the judgement begin and the story be told.”

I let Feathers take control. After all; it was his responsibility. He was a natural, knowing what he had to do without my guidance.

“It began almost two years ago. My brother and I were close after the death of our father. You all know that the Droprock family has always served.” Greatwing tried to say something, but the order prevented him. Only one could be heard at a time.

“From our ancestors that did everything they could for the crown, to now, waiting patiently for their return. My father, and his father, and his father before him all were loyal to their death.”

“Two years ago, My brother and I were exploring the ravines. Looking for relics from that past glory when we found it.”

“We found the crown.”

“I was overjoyed. We had no king to place it atop, but the crown was and still is a vital part of our culture. It represents our past and what we hope to be our future.”

“When the griffon empire once more returns to the golden age long past.”

“We kept it a secret for a full year, trying to determine if it was truly real, and searching for anything more. And though we found nothing, the crown was truly the real crown, the same crown worn by Cornelious, our greatest and last king, all those centuries ago. I was ready to reveal our discovery, and to reignite our faltering hopes.”

“That is when my brother convinced me that the crown might be the way to reunite the griffons. That it might bring us back together, and that we should keep the crown a secret and reveal it later.”

“We planned my trip for a week, writing letters to every noble griffon that we knew or could find out about. My trip would take months to complete, but I would do it.”

“It was the last days of preparation that I noticed that my brother was behaving strangely. When I asked, he said that he would handle the griffons here. That I did not need to go and visit anyone.”

“On the day of my trip I noticed that my water had been changed. I thought wondered, but said nothing and flew, my brother bidding me farewell.”

“I suspected him of doing something to the water. I didn’t drink it for weeks, foraging amongst the wilderness instead. I delivered the letters, and had replies returned; some good and some bad.”

“Reunification still looks like a dream. But as I returned I admonished myself. Surely my brother was simply nervous. I was imagining things. I took a drink of that water.”

“The very first sip had me fall the earth, paralyzed. I was found in my helplessness by timberwolves, who tore me apart.”

“The pony who allows me her form is named Hag, and it is she that found my body. She gave it the best sendoff she could with no knowledge of the proper ways and I thought my service was over.”

“But Hag kept my skull, and carried me with her and allowed me to live on in a fashion. She gave me a chance to return to High Peak. She is the reason I am here at all, and my debt to her cannot be repaid.”

“But I want to know Greatwing. Why? Why did you poison my water? We were kin, family. We grew up together, did everything together. When I broke my wing you carried me to help. When you suffered from your slow growth it was I who attacked those who tormented you. We were going to try and rebuild the griffon empire, together.”

“We were brothers. Why?”

“Because of the power!” he snapped and instantly stopped.

“What? Why can’t I say what I want?”

I smirked. “The order will allow no lies. The truth shall be known whether you wish it or not.”

He hesitated for a time and then scowled.

“The moment we found that crown I knew that we could rule. We only had to assure its authenticity and then these old buzzards would believe that we were the rightful kings!”

“It was going to be so easy! It was so easy! All I had to do was say that the crown found me and they all fell over themselves to give me the power!”

“But you didn’t want to. Never even noticed my hints, and kept talking as if the crown was a person. Service to the crown! Service to kings who are dead! They are dead and they will never return!”

“You were going to ruin everything! So I convinced you of trying to reunite the griffons, to send you far away. To keep you away until I could create what I wanted here.”

“But you were by my side every waking moment, blathering about your ‘hope’ that perhaps we might even find an heir! It was then I was certain.”

“You Swift, had to die. Because even if I did create a kingdom for us, you would happily give it all away to AN INANIMATE OBJECT!”

“So I replaced your water. I put the strongest paralyzing agent I could find within it. And I wished you farewell and knew that no one was ever going to find you.”

“And now, a pony chanced upon your body, took your skull, and allowed your return!”

“I was so close! It was all going to be great! The moment I was king I just had to kill off a few of the troublesome ones, and then nothing could stop me!”

“But you brother, didn’t want to rule. You want to serve, and make me serve with you. Well, I have no loyalty to what’s dead and gone. There is no true king and there never will be.”

“You tried to stop my dream. And I was not going to allow that.”

“If only you could think. We could have ruled together.”

I shook my head. “The Droprocks serve. Loyalty was always the greatest virtue. We can rule no better than a dog can run a household.”

“You tell me that you killed me from lust of power. Does none of our childhood matter to you?”

Greatwing looked down.

“It did. I wanted you by my side. But the power was more important than blood in the end. I had the poison for weeks before I replaced your water at the last opportunity.”

“You… You were going to ruin everything.”

“I was afraid, but I didn’t mourn you. Our past means nothing if you were to betray me later. You always, always put family and loyalty over power, even during our youth.”

“Our brotherhood ended that night.”

“It did.” I said sadly. “But not that night. It ended the moment you put power over everything the Droprocks have stood for. Our family stood proud. We were loyal. We waited when so many others gave up their hope.”

I saw it first. The judgement was complete, and I was well aware of the price for killing a brother.

Death.

The rings slowly turned red, and the candle flames dimmed until only we were visible in the chains and the red glow from the rings.

“The judgement is done.” I said. “The order will right itself. Make peace now Greatwing.”

“I only wanted to rule.”

My chains fell off and the rings contracted past me. They hovered around Greatwing for a moment.

And then they shut and he fell, his soul snipped free of the body. We all saw it for a few brief seconds until it was gone, heading to whatever rest it could find.

The one benefit to death by the order. Your sins were measured and the punishment doled out right there. Greatwing would suffer little in the beyond.

The candles flickered and relit, the gathered griffons shocked, staring, and pale. With a tiny clink, a crown appeared on the floor in front of me.

It was nothing more than a simple ring of gold with almost no decoration. And yet, it had power amongst the griffons. It was… magic for them. The proof of a lost time. Of a lost greatness.

One older griffon walked over and carefully, reverently picked it up. He sighed as he looked at it. Swift had called him Stonebeak.

“We were all fools. Blood cannot be replaced by hope and delusions.”

“The empire will return. But perhaps it won’t ever do so until we are worthy. Look at us all.”

“Angry, useless, willing to do anything to return to the golden times. No crime too great no dishonor too heavy to bear.”

“Do we deserve a king? I know that I myself have done enough that in the old ages I would have been exiled.”

“I think that our past is simply gone. Look at where our greed and desperation and despair have led us.”

“The Droprock family is gone. The last true connection to that time of greatness. And I suspect that we are to blame.”

“We let our towns and cities collapse. We simply wait to be saved like animals, snapping at those who laught at out disgrace.”

“If we ever want a king back... A true king, and not a pretender… We must be worthy. We must be better than we are.”

He sighed as he looked around. “But perhaps… perhaps that will never happen.”

“In the sight of all, I will repent. Service to the crown. I will see myself bettered, and to the best of my strength, our people bettered. I won’t see us slowly fall into filth and decay anymore.”

“Who here is willing to take the same pledge?”

Stonebeak looked around, I saw many griffons slip away. A few others suddenly found themselves alone, and crouched, trying to hide their faces as they left.

Only six came to him.

“You are right.” one said. “We aren’t worthy.”

“Swallowing that pride is a difficult thing to do.”

“What do we have pride in though, truly? Nothing but past glories.”

“We need to be able to stand on our own.”

“We are so few, but I shan’t give up this fight.”

“We can’t wait for a king to remake us. We need to remake ourselves to have a king.”

Stonebeak looked down at me. “Swift… I am sorry. I could have prevented this.”

“Take up your promise, and all is forgiven.” I said.

“And Hag… Thank you. You saved us all from a terrible mistake. If there is any way I can help you…”

“You can.” I said. “Take this cursed thing out of my back.”

He eyed it. “I suspect that might kill you.”

“I know better, grab and pull. I can take it.”

Internally I told Droprock to leave. He shouldn’t suffer that pain with me.

He told me that he owed me everything. And that he wasn’t going to let me so much as feel an ache until he his soul was rent asunder.

I was stunned by his honor, and Stonebeak grabbed the spike, closed his eyes, and tore it free of me.

I saw Swift’s soul. It filled with pain and agony, and yet, he actually moved to catch more. He didn’t let a single mote of that pain to reach me. I never saw anything in that much pain before.

I felt my power return, and moved. I couldn’t heal myself fully, but I could sooth myself, stop the bleeding, stop the pain.

I acted swiftly, wanting nothing more than to help Swift. I didn’t even think of myself.

Stop the bleeding, seal the inside, eat the thorn vine, use as much of my power as I could to heal what was absolutely necessary. I did everything I could.

I saw the pain reduce greatly, and slowly diminish more as the thorn vine took effect. I was bleeding heavily, but my injury was already healing and I already had a bandage on it. I looked like I had been stabbed, but it was far better than before.

Go. I told Swift. Your debt is paid a thousand times over.

Not until you are not in pain. My debt is everything. Suffering this for you is little.

I could simply eject him out with my power back. But he was so… I would have devastated him if I did so.

He had honor. And if I forced him to do what I wanted, I would spit on that honor. So I let him stay.

I saw the shard at my hooves, and picked it up. It felt numb in some ways, the magic avoiding it. I fished Swift's pouch form my own, and placed it within there before hanging that around my neck.

I turned to look at Stonebeak who looked stunned. And a bit messy.

“Thank you. That is far better now.”

“The wound seemed to shut…”

“I can heal. Eventually, all that’ll be left is a scar.”

“…Hag. Know that if you ever need anything, we will come. Even those sniveling cowards that dare to call themselves girffons.”

“I want you to take this.” he said, and held out the crown to me.

“It means nothing to me. And everything to you, keep it.”

“We… we cannot be trusted with it. You saw that this night. Even I do not have the right to hold it or even look at it. You went so far as to bring Swift back from the dead so that he and you could save us from ourselves. With no thought but our benefit. I can think of no greater holder.”

He looked at the other six. They all nodded. He carefully placed it atop my head.

“I once heard that my ancestor was a close friend to the steward of the castle. And if that had any truth and gives me any authority to do so…”

“I pronounce you the protector of our past, and the bearer of our hope. The Keeper of the Crown of Kings.”

“I never had a title before…” I murmured. “I accept. I will keep this safe for you. And perhaps one day, I can return it.”

“May I live to see that. I am old Hag.”

“So am I. Sometimes people change fast. I imagine that griffons can do the same. Don’t dismiss the idea that you will never see the change. That only means that you’re already giving up.”

“In the words of a great leader of my own kind…”

“’Always know that you can do what you want to, or you never will. And crack the skull of any idiot who thinks otherwise, reap those who try to stop you, and use their bones to climb to higher than you ever dreamed.’”

“That’s… rather violent for a pony.”

“He was a rather violent stallion. I think the words still ring true.”

“If only you were a griffon.” he said, smiling. "I think our honor would be back within a week."

“But I’m not, and that’s why I got your crown. I’ve got places to be, but I do promise to return.”

“And if you guys hadn’t cleaned up at least a little, I’m going to be pulling on a few tails.”

Stonebeak laughed. “My grandmother once said the same thing to me. Do not worry Hag. High Peak will be a place to be proud of when you return.”

“Stay safe, wherever you go!” Stonebeak yelled as I left, taking the crown and placing it within my sack. “May the winds of strength be at your back and against your enemies!”

“Spirits guide you!” I called, and stepped back out into a night. I paused outside, and then fished in my pouch for a moment.

I pulled out Swift’s skull and stared. The bone glittered like it was made of gems. And more importantly…

I could feel the effects. It was bolstering my connection to friends and encouraging me to fix my problems.

Loyalty. His skull had become the element of loyalty.

I laughed as he noticed and approved of the change. A use for his skull he called it.

I looked up again and saw the sun starting its rise. I watched the light shine on the wet stone and plants, the shadows of the mountains casting the ravines into darkness.

I had done a good thing that night. I felt renewed in my purposes and loyalty only reinforced me. I was going to fix everything I had broken, and then some more just to make up for it. And then more, because I liked helping ponies and griffons, and anything else that called this world home.

Or course, the dark magic was back, and Discord’s spell had been weakened. I didn’t know what happened to Pinkie or Rainbow, or what the changelings were up to either.

But I didn’t care.

I stepped toward the city once again with perfect confidence. I was ready. I could handle anything that would come at me. Nothing was going to stop me.

Something was already stopping the ponies that I had no idea about, but I was ready.

Great Magic 1

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The first few griffons I talked to were less than helpful. Well, they were, but not how I wanted them to be.

Most of them couldn’t stop paying attention to my wound. A few were competent enough to help me bandage myself again and give me a few potions to help healing, but the rest were simply disgusted or horrified, and weren’t thinking properly enough to actually listen to me.

I eventually took to caring for myself somewhat, cleaning the blood and making myself less dead looking, and then trying again. I saw a pair of griffons and headed to them.

“Excuse me!” I called, only to have the griffon take one look and take off in terror. The other one started and stared as he went before shaking his head.

“Do you need something?” he asked.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“Don’t know. He’s been upset and jumpy ever since last night. Don’t mind him too much.”

I shrugged. He probably was a witness to the judgement, nothing important for me to worry about.

“Have you seen a blue mare with a rainbow mane?” I asked, knowing that Rainbow would stand out anywhere.

He nodded. “I did, just recently. In a group of six.”

A group of six… the bearers? The rest of the bearers were in High Peak? Since when?

“Did they say anything?” I asked.

“Actually… they asked about a deathly hurt mare that had disappeared last night. With your colors, but with a big spike in her back; they think she’s been pony napped or something.”

Mildly concerning, but not too much. They were asking about me, and their concern was heartwarming. Not that I was going to let them worry anymore though.

“Which way?” I asked.

“They went toward the market. Just ahead, and a right.”

“Thank you.”

I soon discovered that High Peak, though deceptively ramshackle, was huge. The city covered most of the mountain’s peak, and I soon discovered that I might spend all day searching aimlessly. The marketplace by itself was the size of my old village.

It was a bit of a maze as well; with old permanent structures amongst small temporary stalls. I saw a few ponies scattered around, but griffons were dominate by a massive margin.

I kept looking, and then, mostly by chance, I spotted Pinkie. Just a flash of pink for a moment, but I recognized her.

“Pinkie!” I called, heading after her. I kept spotting pink, but she was obviously not hearing me. The griffons fluttering and talking around me must be blocking my own voice.

She headed into an alley, and after a moment, I entered only to pause.

She wasn’t inside, but there was no exit. A faint… something was hanging in the air, and I stepped forward to see a green smear on the ground. A tiny bit of pink hair stuck in it.

I had a sudden dread and turned and ran.

I saw Rainbow flying in the air before she dove. I ran to where she had gone, but found the same thing…

That happened three more times. Three times I would see a pony in the distance, one of the bearers, only to find nothing but a green spot where they should have been. Always in places that were private or hidden. Always unable to hear my cries.

Feathers felt my fear, and helped me. Moving faster from his aid, I saw Twilight heading into an abandoned part of High Peak.

I used all I had to chase her.

I got there just in time to surprise two changelings currently wrapping her in a green cocoon of some sort.

I jumped the first, and stomped on it, cracking the chitin. Acting in desperation; I was only myself, no forest to aid me and the mountain could only offer little.

So I used something else.

Dark magic powered my strength for that first blow. An act of insanity really, but it was my only hope to get one out of the fight before they could overwhelm me.

The next came at me, so I struck out at it, but my legs were too short, and it too fast. It knew I was going to lash out, and how.

Two more came from hiding, and the first spat something green at me. It was sticky, and caught one of my legs.

I wasn’t going to do this like a pony. I couldn’t fight like a pony without a forest. Too weak, too slow, and no training whatsoever.

I stilled, and they approached slowly. I focused, trying something I hadn’t even thought of ever since I first arrived here.

The power was there. Even the mountain had that power.

When the first grabbed me, I grabbed it. The other two jumped back as my hand gripped the first’s horn, and then, heaving, I tossed it at the others, trying to get on my feet. I was human once more, as if I had never left it. I only had a few moments like that; the mountain did not have the power to keep my form.

I got to all fours, and leapt again at them, too shocked at the human form to do anything.

I grabbed a leg, and snapped it, taking advantage of the holes in them. I snagged a horn, and used that to control the beast like a harness. The third tried to attack me, so I used the second’s horn to stab it, the first staggering, green blood flowing from its leg.

Then I rolled away, gasping. I had learned a lot in my life, but I was far more capable in my youth. I was straining from so little already; my human form had none of the endurance of my pony. If they were more dangerous, I would have been in trouble.

I pulled away some of the cocoon on Twilight, and I saw her weakly move. Good. She was stunned, not dead. A great sign and hope for the rest.

I grabbed a rock nearby, small but sharp.

When they came at me again, more careful and angry, I fought them. Trying to use the rock to gouge their eyes out which was easy.

They, like the ponies, had huge eyes.

I am fairly sure I killed one and probably blinded the others when I saw the talking one arrive, glaring.

So much more to do; they were still moving. And yet, my time was out.

My last act was to throw the rock at him, and then I collapsed, shifting back into a pony. I found out a negative to my shifting.

The human form’s efforts was worsened when shifting back. I was helpless from exhaustion and falling asleep and the leader was very alive and well.

My last sight was seeing the cocoon wrap around me.

Stonebeak was unsure.

He was the head, and originally, the only member of the High Peak Historical Society.

Lacking a museum, he had taken it upon himself to save and guarantee old relics from the golden age. When Swift and Greatwing had found the crown, it had been he that had verified its authenticity.

He had worked alone for most of his life. But after the events of that night, he found himself the head of a movement. Six griffons looked to him for guidance and he was having some trouble.

There was so much to do. Where could they even start?

He had decided to start the simplest way.

Recording that night, so that the true story would never be forgotten. He and the others had named it ‘The Night of Judgment’, and they were certain that no detail was left unsaid.

Even their complicity in raising a false king. No truth hidden. Everything recorded, no matter how bad they looked.

After that, he had sent the others out to try and find likeminded griffons. Spreading the word of a new age that only needed a willingness to work.

He was in his home which doubled as the unofficial museum of High Peak. Thinking. Trying to know what to do next.

Wondering if he should tell some other griffon to take his place.

He was old. Decades spent alone. He was no leader; he was barely a thinker. He had no place to be leading this revival of honor.

His own was stained and broken; worse than the others by his measure.

And yet… and yet, they looked at him. Wouldn’t even think of another, even when he detailed what he had done. All the lies, and the underhanded measures, and the ways that he was responsible for that fateful night, and even the destruction of others for his benefit. He had never killed, but he drove many to destitution.

It was a great honor that they wanted him anyway.

It was a great responsibly and something that might redeem him.

And the thought of failure terrified him so badly that he wondered if he might just have a heart attack.

He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

But the pressure of the others forced him.

Their hopes had been tossed upon his shoulders. And he had no way to drop them or give them away without turning his back on everything he had said.

Dropping them meant killing all hope. Failing them might be worse, but he had no choice but to try. To put everything he had into it.

He sighed, and looked at himself in a mirror. The others hadn’t seen it, but he was worn and drawn. He suspected that he wasn’t going to find any sleep that night, just like the last night. Two days since the judgment and they felt like a week.

He sighed, and went to the old metals, armor and weapons. Old things that were still in a fairly good condition. He had grown skilled at caring for the steel; High Peak no longer had a blacksmith who could. He went to one in particular.

A greatsword hanging on the wall. Looking like it was forged just yesterday.

The blade of the old kings. Rumored to be able to cut magic and enchanted by the greatest of powers. It certainly was able to slice most anything.

He had cut the door in half when he brought it back.

The infallible resistance of it inspired him. It was a relic of past glories, and a great one. He had found it simply impaled in the rock, untouched by the ages.

He carefully reached up and took it down, hefting the blade. It was heavy, but easy to wield. The strength of the blade helped calm him; it was unchanging. Adamant against everything.

He felt like he could borrow a bit of that strength. He needed it.

He paused as he held it. Something about the reflection…

He shifted it and gasped. The reflection was not the normal refracted sight of the surroundings. It was a clear image, but not of anything near him.

He saw Hag, sleeping in a changeling cocoon. Somewhere far from High Peak, in a hive.

The sight was gone the moment he saw it, but he knew:

Hag, the pony who saved them, was in danger. Great danger, as was the crown she carried with her.

He should have known; changelings had always bothered the griffons of High Peak, but they never posed a threat to them. Griffons were too strong to be taken easily.

But to an old mare that was suffering a great wound? In the early morning, in a place where few ever went?

He had to…

He stopped, realizing that he had nearly reached for the door, the sword slung onto his back. He hadn’t even noticed, but he stopped himself and thought harder.

He was an old griffon. He never fought anything before. Hag was certainly in a hive, surrounded by changelings in their own home and even if he got the others, what could he or they do other than die in the attempt?

He hesitated for a long time before looking at the sword and nodding.

Dying for the right reasons was worth it. And not making the attempt was unacceptable. Better to die fighting than die of inaction.

He opened the door, and stopped, finding the six from before just outside. They were smiling, and he noticed the small crowd behind them. Not many, but far more than he had ever hoped for.

“Stonebeak, we found twelve!” one said.

“And this is only the start we think.”

Stonebeak was speechless. The others didn’t see the sword he carried.

“They are all young and full of life. They are willing to come and work now…”

“But many others want something to really fight for. They want to see something great, be a part of something great, and don’t believe that we can offer that to them. At least not now.”

“All of High Peak is waiting for something. We just have to know what we can do.”

“Do you have an idea Stonebeak?” the last asked. “We can think of nothing.”

Stonebeak stared for a moment longer before thinking. “…How many others?” he asked slowly.

“The entire city other than a rare few.”

He nodded. A thousand griffons, give or take a few dozen.

“Alright. I want most of you to go inside, and try to find a weapon or armor that isn’t worthless and that you can use.”

“What?”

“Anyone who can swing a sword and not hurt themselves or any griffon near them gets the best. Get ready, and then come to the castle. I can explain there.”

Stonebeak flew upward, and they watched him go, slightly confused.

One of the crowd shrugged and headed forward.

“Always wanted to swing a real sword.” he said. The rest soon followed after him, most eager.

When the sound of the ancient bell rang out from the castle, most of the city stopped and wondered.

The bell was older than the castle was, from the oldest of griffon times. Forged by a dragon if the legend was true. It hadn’t been rung for hundreds of years.

It was a call, and most of the griffons went to find out who and why.

They found Stonebeak waiting for them, the old griffon determined. Standing in front of the castle and watching as they gathered. Something about him prevented any of them from approaching him.

He waited until they stopped arriving and then nodded.

“I am Stonebeak.” he said, raising his voice to be heard by all. “Some of you know of me. The old griffon who collects relics.”

He swung the sword and planted it in the ground in front of him.

“This is one of them. The blade of kings. I suppose that it can signify more than that.”

“Griffons need to change. We need to find our glory on our own, and stop waiting. Stop waiting for something else to come and redeem us.”

“I am told that most of you are waiting for something great. Something to fight for, to live for. Something to follow.”

“I can’t give you a king. I can’t make anything better. But we can.”

“Together, we can make a new golden age. But only together. I can’t do it alone.”

He looked around and saw that the crowd looked uncertain or worried. They were not yet ready. There was nothing for them yet.

“I see it in your eyes. There’s nothing left to fight for. Just the ramblings of a mad griffon with a few relics. And in some ways, you are right.”

“I am a mad griffon. An old buzzard who has no purpose to be holding this blade, and has spent his life looking at the past instead of the present. My life is nothing to fight for.”

“But there is something to fight for.”

“Just last night, I delivered the crown of kings into safe hands. Hands that wouldn’t sully it with dishonor or greed or deceit.”

“Those same hands have been taken. Stolen by the changelings, and taken away. Perhaps saving another and recovering the crown is nothing to you. I can see that.”

“But if any of you would not stand up for what is right, and make something to fight for in your own actions, then I call you coward!”

“Make a glory this day! Make something to be proud of yourself!”

The rest of the group arrived, some of them wearing old armor and a few armed with old swords that they could handle without harming anything. The crowd stared.

“I am going to save our crown and the keeper. I am going to give us something to remember our past, and make us recall our old glories.”

“But the battle will make a new glory. The first step into redeeming ourselves. Making the griffon empire great once more instead of the joke it is now. A battle to tell our children, a thing for them and us to remember and propel us faster and harder toward the time when griffons once more stand on their own with support from none!”

“Anyone who wishes to be a part of this, wishes to shape our future, wishes to remake that golden time… follow me.”

With that, he took off. He knew where the changeling hive was.

The armored group didn’t hesitate at all, and hurried after him. A few griffons in the crowd took off as well, and after a moment, most returned to their homes in a hurry.

To come back out with anything that could be used as a weapon and some kind of makeshift armor. Parents had to prevent younglings, some as young as eight, from following, their eyes shining with eagerness.

The times were changing. To wallow in apathy was easy, and getting out was hard and painful.

But not one griffon didn’t hate it. Didn’t hate the life they lived and wished for something greater. They did nothing about it, wouldn’t move on their own, but…

They would follow. They would rip themselves free of the apathy if given a chance. If one of them had pulled himself free and called them to action and gave them something to head toward.

It was just that none of them had ever found enough fight in them to do so on their own. Weak promises and weak minds making them used to false promises. Until Stonebeak. Not one of them couldn’t see the truth in the old griffon.

The path ahead was hard. The first step was going to hurt and the others might hurt more. It meant changing things left unchanged for a long time.

But they would. Refusing Stonebeak’s call and resisting the urge to follow would kill them. It would mean that nothing would ever change. That would mean that they would always live in filth and dishonor and be known as nothing.

Times were changing. And griffons flew from High Peak and left their past behind.

Flying toward a future that shined so bright. Not one reclaimed. Not one given to them.

One made by them.

Nothing would be the same. Not one stain would be left. They would scour themselves until not one spot was left and bleed until not one drop of poison was left.

Each one filled with a fire. The old went to make a place for their children, and the young went to make their lives better, and maybe better for their own children. It would be glorious.

No pain too great. No effort too hard. Nothing too difficult to surmount.

They had risen, and nothing would ever make them fall down ever again.

Honest

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Rose was feeling unsure, uncertain. Something was… wrong. Something was very wrong, and she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

A little more than two weeks ago, the bearers had all left Ponyville in a hurry, as had the CMC. According to the fillies, to meet with Hag far away in High Peak. That was fine, but something wasn’t.

She wasn’t really sure what it was. She didn’t have the words to describe it.

But perhaps the best description she could make, if such a description could even be considered viable was this:

The land was fearful.

A deep shuddering fear was under her hooves, and the slightest of tremors that couldn’t even be felt, but somehow were.

It set her on edge, though Honest had noticed nothing.

So she continued her life with that nagging fear constantly on her mind, until one day, when she waited for Honest to return home.

He had done so early, and done so quickly, panicky.

“Rose!” he yelled, bursting into the home and Rose started. His fear increased her own, and her voice quavered as she responded, trying to remain calm.

“Honest, is something the matter?”

Shen stopped, noticing his disheveled mane and slightly dirty form. But perhaps worse;

There was a tiny cut on him, and she could still see a faint smear of blood on him, washed away, but still visible.

“Honest!” she yelled in shock upon seeing that, her fear amplifying. What had happened to him!? Was he hurt!?

“There is no time Rose. We have to go, right now.”

“Honest that’s blood!” she yelled as he went to her. “What happened!?”

“There is no,”

A sudden crash came from upstairs, and Honest leapt Rose entirely before colliding with something behind her.

She turned in shock, and saw him wrestling with a changeling. Or perhaps wrestling was the wrong word.

He had dislocated one leg, and as she watched in horror, snapped its neck like he was well used to fighting.

He got up just as another one jumped him, and Rose screamed as the second’s horn stabbed his side.

Honest beat it off, and Rose saw a third, and found what she was made of.

She grabbed the nearest chair, and brutally hit it with it, continuing to do so, screaming the entire time, until it was an unmoving pulpy mess.

Then she stared at it, panting, and saw the blood that had scattered over everything. She shuddered, and would have collapsed if Honest hadn’t grabbed onto her.

“Honest…”

“I know, I know. Just hang on, and say nothing. Say nothing for me.”

“I… I love you Rose. I love you more than anything else. Please remember that for me.”

“Stay still and silent.”

She felt him grab onto her, and lift her. She jolted a little in shock as he flew somehow, carrying her.

“Honest?” she asked, her voice a wreck as she looked back. She saw black legs. Black legs with holes in them holding her. She started to struggle and then froze when it spoke.

“It’s me.” the changeling holding her said. The voice was Honest’s own. “Honest, it’s me. This… this is the real me.” he said. He sounded… worried. Terrified.

Rose looked back to her front, feeling numb and shocked. She hung from his legs limply as he flew out of their home and into a Ponyville filled with changelings.

He chittered something to the nearest, and she saw it wince, and chitter something back.

Then he went up, flying high.

Honest was a changeling. Her husband was a changeling. Her friend ever since childhood, the same friend that had renewed her life, was a changeling.

How? How could she not have noticed? How could grandmother not have noticed?

Deception as a talent. Ha. It made a lot of sense now. Just a big joke.

Was it all a big joke? How much of his life had been nothing but lies? Had she not found him because of fate, or because he had sensed her weakness?

Grandmother helped her to open up, and had he felt her pains and longing and rushed to answer them? To feed on her love that he would so easily gain?

It was all nothing but a lie, wasn’t it? As Honest kept flying, passing more and more changelings, every now and then chittering at them as he went to wherever he was going, she felt sure.

It was a big lie. From start to finish.

She waited until they were in clear air once more and then asked, her voice dull, “What’s your name?”

“Honest.”

“I want your real name.”

“Honest.”

Rose growled a little, and she felt him hang on a little tighter. “I want to know what the other changelings call you. I don’t want to hear that… that lie ever again.”

There was a long moment.

“Changelings aren’t given names. The only ‘name' I was ever given was my designation;”

“Infiltrator.”

“It fits you.” Rose spat. “’Infiltrator’. Of my trust and love, and grandmother’s trust.” The legs holding her flinched slightly.

“I…”

“I don’t care.” Rose interrupted. “I just don’t care. Honest. Ha. Deception. Ha ha... Good joke, funny joke. I hope you laughed enough and taken enough of my love for a pony that never even existed, Infiltrator.” she said, her voice heavy with anger.

She put as much hate and poison that she could into the next sentence, expressing what she felt. “Because I never want to see you ever again.”

She didn’t receive a response. Her anger was enough to hold herself for now, but later on, when it chilled, she would cry.

She had thought that her life was starting anew. A new husband, a new child. Something that she could start to… start to really cure her old pains. Seal up those old scars and forget the sadness and pain they still offered.

She was enraged, but she was devastated at the same time. Fooled, but fooled out of what she wanted more than nothing else. Deceived into thinking that maybe her life might be happy.

Well, she was never going to be happy ever again.

Deceived by a changeling. Romanced by a changeling. Got grandmother to at least tolerate and maybe even like said changeling, all on her own. Married the changeling.

Had a child with said changeling.

Nope. Never happy, never again.

She hung from Infiltrator’s grasp, and closed her eyes, no longer caring where they were going. Let them go anywhere; it didn’t matter anymore.

Infiltrator carried her fairly far before slowly descending into a rocky valley in the Everfree. Once there, he carefully carried her into the cave, and he saw the weakened tree of harmony.

It flickered, the light seemingly beating like a heart. The dead branches were gone now, and the ones remaining looked weak.

He cautiously, as if he held the most precious of things, set her down near it. She simply laid down, her anger slowly dousing and her sadness coming to the fore as he hesitated in letting go.

She slapped his hooves away, and he snapped away.

“Go away.” she said, moving her head away from him, beginning to cry.

“…”

“You’ll be safe here. The tree can protect you.”

“The queen is doing everything she can this time to win. This is worse than the wedding. Just… just remain here. They can’t come in here, not even the queen.”

“I’ll… I’ll bring you some food, and there’s water. The tree can take care of everything else. You’ll be fine.”

“… I’m sorry.”

“Just… Go.” she said, her voice weak, nearly blind for her tears. Her breathing caught every now and then.

Infiltrator hesitated for a few moments longer before turning and flying away.

Rose was safe. Absolutely safe. Nothing could get her while she was in the tree’s cave, even with it hurt as it was. His heart bled, but he stopped it. He made it like he was just fine. He had to be.

This was not the time to cry. Not if he was going to help anypony else.

As he went, he shifted. When another changeling saw him, his disguise was perfect.

A changeling, but a rather special changeling.

One that had been hurt so as to sever the mental connection to the rest of the hive.

“Where is the queen?” he asked as he came closer, connecting very carefully to the changeling in front of him, so it wouldn’t notice.

The changeling there gave him a pitying expression.

“Far, in the pony capital, in the stone hive.” It said, its voice harsh and weak; unused to having to talk.

Infiltrator nodded, flying toward Canterlot, listening to the mental chatter as he went.

Heroes, captured, bring to the queen. Alicorns, captured, make sure they sleep. Ponies, pacify, and do not kill unless needed.

Set Hag next to the alicorns, and make her sleep. A sense that she wasn’t, and that they were having a hard time with her. He smirked a little at that and disconnected.

He had the information he needed. Now, he just had to trick about a hundred changelings that he was one of them.

Which would be hard if they sensed the sheer amount of love he carried in him. The love of Rose Bush.

They would know that he was a deserter if they sensed that.

The biggest challenge he had ever faced:

Hide his love. Eavesdrop mentally without being noticed, so that he could know what the hive was doing. Find and replicate the authentication codes so he could walk amongst them without worry. Falsify information that would probably mean imitating the queen. Infiltrate the hive, and maybe trick the queen herself.

Find and free the pony who could fix this, and help her in any way he could. And if Hag wasn’t able to fix this, then nopony ever would.

But even imitating the queen would be easy compared to keeping his pain inside. He had lost Rose, the one pony he had ever really loved, and even the perfect love that filled him seemed painful now. He would never have it again.

Ponies cry. There's lots of reasons for ponies to cry, the loving beings so easily connecting with others.

Changelings don’t cry. They never have a reason to, lacking an ability to connect emotionally unless something nigh impossible occurred.

That a changeling first abandon their hive, and deny the queen's commands. And survive, because deserters were to be killed on sight. And then, after being raised and living in a place where love was a food to be taken without remorse, become willing to share. Somehow the love of a pony might just be able to change them, but it was impossibly rare.

Changelings don't cry.

But one felt like he might just.

Stonebeak

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It was chaos. Absolute chaos, and the fire that burned along the upper reaches was not helping matters.

Changelings ran, panicked and terrified. This had started as a normal defense, something they had dealt with before. Attacks on the hive were not uncommon.

A thousand griffons coming at the same time however, was not. Eager and ready and strong. They swarmed the swarm, but one in particular was terrifying them.

An old griffon who was swinging a sword like it was nothing, cleaving through anything in his path and not even flinching when he was hurt.

It was like a nightmare, and the hive was screaming as griffons hunted changelings down, and killed them, the griffons too large and strong to be defeated by one or even two changelings.

And in the end of it, the hive was burning, every changeling dead, and the griffons were gathered nearby, waiting. Waiting for Stonebeak to reemerge from the hive.

He said that he was looking for something.

Stonebeak cut his way through the hive, hearing the fire burn around him as he carved deeper. He was searching for Hag, and though he didn’t find her, he found something else.

Her bag, discarded, and the crown, half out of it.

He stared for a moment, the worst coming to mind. He went to it, and picked up the crown and bag, looking carefully for any trace of blood.

He didn’t find any. There was no trace of what happened to Hag at all and he drooped.

Had he failed her?

Far…

“What?” he said. Had he heard something?

Very far…

Stonebeak hesitated. He had definitely heard that. A faint whisper nearby.

Wear… it…

He stopped, and then glanced at the crown he held. Were…

Were the whispers emanating from it?

The hive shuddered as it collapsed slightly, the fire burning away the supports. It grew hot, and smoke began curling into the deepest chambers, where he was.

Wear… it…

He stared at it for a long time. And then, slowly, carefully, reverently, he set the crown atop his head.

His vision shifted, and he found himself in a plain of dark grey, mist swirling under his claws. It was empty, but for one thing:

Every dead king that the griffons had ever had. All forty five of them, ranked from the first to the last, and he knew the names of only a few. He stared in awe, and they stared back, unmoving. He tried, but found himself unable to speak. Something stopped him.

The hag has been taken far. one said, no indication of speech visible as he spoke.

To the pony’s kingdom. said another. Each one spoke in turn.

Canterlot, where the changelings gather and conquer.

Save her, save them.

Or it will be for naught.

For if they claim that prize…

Then nothing will stop them. Not even our greatest might.

Cripple them before they have a chance to gain it.

Prove yourself the warrior.

You are already wise.

You already fear the responsibility.

You already fear the failure.

In every other way, you are ready.

But just one last thing is needed.

Just one more battle.

But you must do it alone, and without aid.

In a place unknown.

Against a great many.

Wielding our blade.

Wearing our crown.

Holding your honor close.

Remembering what we once stood for.

Remembering honor even against the honor less.

Fighting with all you have.

Killing any and all who dare to stop you.

Then, Stonebeak… if you prove yourself in this last way…

Then you will have made yourself a glory.

You will have made a foundation for the empire to stand atop.

You will lead them all back to the right ways.

You will rebuild the empire, and make it anew.

You will see your dreams given life.

Or you shall see hope die.

Save her.

Save them.

Save us.

Save everything.

One last battle.

And we will find you worthy.

Worthy to wear our crown.

Worthy to lead our people.

Do this for us.

For them.

For you, and you…

You, old Stonebeak…

You shall be called king.

The griffons outside waited nervously. Most of the hive was on fire now, and it was falling in on itself, the fire consuming it from the inside, and still Stonebeak had not emerged.

“…Should we go and look?” one of the armored ones asked.

“It’s too dangerous. Look at the smoke; going in would be done blind.”

“But Stonebeak…”

With a shuddering rumble, the hive collapsed completely, a great pillar of fire rising as it fell.

The griffon flinched back, and shielded their faces with their wings form the fire and the smoke.

And when they looked again, it was all gone, a burning wreck.

They all stared in shock and horror. It had been a great victory, over an enemy that had troubled them for some time, and troubled their neighbors. It was something to be proud of, something that was finally theirs, and not something long past.

And yet…

The one who had roused them had been taken. The one who rekindled their fire was gone.

A great many of them, most of them in fact, felt weak. Felt like it had been for naught. Many felt like it was worthless to continue.

Until one youth, barely an adult, gripping his perch with a strength to crush the stone, whispered, “No…”

“No!” he yelled, taking to the air.

“No, I won’t let it! I won’t!”

The others turned to see the young griffon flying high, angry and enraged.

He turned to look down at them.

“I will not allow this effort to go to waste!” he screamed. “Even if he is gone, I will not let his memory die with him!”

“He wanted us to make ourselves new! Gave us a chance, dragged us from the pit that we buried ourselves in!”

“Even if he is gone, I shall stand tall! I shall become what he wanted to see, even if not one of you can bring themselves to!”

The others watched. Watched and thought. He stared at them, not one joining him and his fire dimmed. They saw him slow.

Then one cried out, “We shall try!” The rest nodded, making a choice.

“We shall remember!”

“We can change!”

“Time is all we need!”

“Together, as one!”

“Together… together, we shall try.”

They all agreed. Knew what to do, despite not really saying it.

None of them had the fire to lead. Not one had the strength to bear that burden.

But not one of them dared to go back to their old life. Even if it might never reach the old glories, they would change.

Clean their lives, rebuild their towns. Spread the word, and make everything ready.

And then they would wait.

Wait for one who could lead.

One who could bear the burden.

One who they would live and die for.

One who would bring them to glory.

One who could inspire them to great acts.

A griffon, strong and wise and proven.

One who they could call king.

Stonebeak stirred, and opened his eyes. He was high up on a peak.

He didn’t know how he arrived there, but he saw the crown lying on the ground in front of him.

He stood up, and before he did anything else, he placed the crown on his head. Then he looked, feeling the kings watching him.

Far below him, he saw a city. A castle, and it swarmed with changelings. Like a dark fog, they littered the sky and ground. He knew that Hag was inside that swarm.

He reached, and felt the sword on his back. He pulled it free, and readied himself. No armor. an old griffon. One against an uncountable swarm.

He knew what he had to do.

He took flight, and roared his greatest roar to the air before diving toward the swarm.

Great Magic 2

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Stonebeak was fighting, but something was off. What had happened to the swarm? There were only a few fighting him. Pairs, or small groups.

The rest of the swarm was headed elsewhere, and he wasn’t sure why. Not that he was having a good time. He was hurt, and growing tired.

He kept heading inside and then paused.

Dead changelings. Changelings that looked like they had been ripped apart. He heard the sounds of battle someplace.

Something was very, very bad. He kept going.

Something felt wrong. Honest had made it to Canterlot, but something was very, very wrong.

The city felt dark, and he could hear the changelings being called to fight something. But whatever it was was omitted from the information. Not a good sign at all.

It was… worrisum, but it did make this much easier. He slipped inside, heading toward where he knew the bearers were. They were a start, but…

Hag seemed to be missing. That was very strange, and concerning.

Ponies didn’t disappear from the swarm. But Hag had simply… vanished apparently. With any luck, that meant she escaped. On the other hoof, it was also possible that the queen had killed her and no longer cared about her.

He hurried forward, worried that might be the case. He found most of the halls empty, almost all of the swarm called to deal with whatever the trouble was. But as he entered a hall, he stopped in absolute shock.

Dead changelings. A lot of dead changelings. Each one having died a violent death, their corpses strewn everywhere and their blood staining everything. But one thing caught his eye in the carnage.

Hag’s pouch. With most of its contents spilling out.

He hurried to it, and picked it up, noting the lack of its enchantment and the snapped cord that once held it. It looked… burnt and a bit torn.

He looked at the pile, and spotted Loyalty and Happiness, along with the broken elements.

Hag would never leave them behind. The changelings wouldn’t either.

What had happened? What was happening?

He grabbed them, and hooked the bag on his back, tying a new knot and keeping the elements within it. It would do for now.

He had to find Hag, and the bearers, and really quickly.

And avoid whatever was slaughtering everything.

Honest skidded around a corner, fleeing as quickly as he could.

Seconds after, Stonebeak thudded on the wall, the crown remaining on his head despite the sudden motion, and chased after him, roaring.

“I’m on your side!” Honest screamed, barely keeping ahead of the old griffon.

“Lies! Give me Hag’s pouch and face me!”

“Really! I’m trying to help Hag!”

Honest ducked and slipped down a set of stairs, Stonebeak carving a part of the top step off trying to get him.

“Lies!”

“Just listen for a…” Honest gaped and then flattened himself, the sword touching his back as it shot overhead and hilted itself in the floor.

“Second!” he finished.

“Face me like a warrior!” Stonebeak yelled, jumping at him. Honest rolled out of the way and Stonebeak effortlessly pulled the blade free and turned on him again.

“I said!”

A horrible sound made them both stop. Above them came the sounds of death. Violent death.

And a laugh that made both of them pale. A hideous, ugly laugh. A laugh not of madness, but of evil. A deep, dark, bloody kind of evil that either had ever even dreamed of.

It was the laugh you heard in a nightmare.

They both looked up, thankful that whatever was laughing was not near them.

“What… is that?” Honest whispered.

“…You do not know?” Stonebeak asked.

“No…”

“The swarm isn’t speaking to you?”

“I can hear them, but the knowledge is hidden.” Honest shuddered as the sound thankfully faded again. “Now will you listen?”

“…Yes. Speak, and explain yourself.”

Honest nodded, keeping ready to run again, just as Stonebeak kept himself ready to fight.

“My name is Honest. I found Hag’s pouch in a hall, and needed something to carry a few special things while I look for her and the bearers.”

“Bearers?”

“The bearers of the elements of harmony. They are in the castle right now, I just need to reach them and give them something, and they can… fix things.”

“How did you meet Hag?”

“It was a while back. She happened to be traveling with… with… somepony else. And I went with them for a while and… things happened.” Honest sighed, and Stonebeak noticed that he was almost forcing himself to recall. His voice grew tighter as he spoke, and he was skipping over large portions of the story.

“One thing led to another and… I was the happiest changeling ever. She gave us a big sendoff, and everything was perfect and…” he trailed off for a moment, looking down.

“And then it broke. And the only thing left for me to do is finding Hag, and fixing this mess.”

“…You are no changeling.”

“…What?” Honest asked, looking back up.

“No changeling would feel sorrow. No changeling would speak with such emotion, or feel anything for a pony. You might wear their skin, but your soul is not that of a changeling. You… changed.”

Stonebeak nodded and relaxed. “There is much to do. Where is Hag?”

“I can’t find her. The swarm doesn’t know where she is anymore.”

“Then she is alive and escaped. Good. Where are the bearers?”

“Nearby, sleeping. We need to hurry too.”

“Why?”

“Whatever is laughing is heading toward them, and I really don’t want it to find them.”

Stonebeak nodded and the pair hurried away, griffon and changeling together.

The pair made it to the bearers fairly quickly. They had been placed within a room, rather haphazardly as the changelings responsible for carrying them had been called to fight.

Fight a losing battle.

They could hear the buzz of the swarm, and the sounds of death. Crunching. Ripping, fleshy tearing sounds. Stonebeak was deaf to the changelings’ screams, but Honest was buffeted by them and more jumpy than when Stonebeak had been trying to kill him.

“Here they are. We just need to get them out.”

“Just a moment…”

Stonebeak carefully sliced the cocoons open, and the ooze inside spilled out as the bearers gently tumbled from their dreaming prisons. Before any had awoken, Honest had shifted back into his pony form.

Stonebeak gave him a questioning look, but didn’t comment on it as they stirred.

“Hag?” Pinkie weakly asked as Rainbow groaned.

“…What happened?”

“No time heroes, we have to go.” Honest said, heading over and helping them to their hooves.

“Honest?” Pinkie said, slightly surprised as he helped her up.

“A griffon?” Twilight muttered as she got up. “In Canterlot?”

“A long tale indeed.” Stonebeak said, and then glanced back at the door, listening. “And one we do not have the time for.”

“Why,”

They all tensed. That laugh came again, and they all paled at the sound of it.

“That’s why.” Honest said, growing terrified. “We need to go!”

He hurried away and then looked back. The rest of them hurried after him, Stonebeak taking the rear, watching behind them.

“Where are we going? What is that… laugh?”

“I do not know what that is.” Honest said. “And I have a slight plan.”

“We are going to the queen, you are going to use this,” he tossed the sack at Twilight who managed to catch it, “to fix the elements, and then you are going to do your thing and save us all.”

“The queen!? Using!...”

Twilight stopped and regarded Loyalty and Happiness.

“…Is this…?”

“Long story, but they can fix the elements. Start working; we don’t have much time, and I’ll deal with the queen.”

Twilight kept staring at the glittering objects. She knew that they couldn’t exist. Neither made any sense, but everything about them was telling her that they were real, they were potent, and they could absolutely be used to mend a broken element.

She would have to trust Honest. Whatever was laughing was really, really bad, and they were going to need the elements. She needed to figure it out, and quickly.

She had a rather nasty suspicion that everypony was going to die if she didn’t.

Chrysalis had never been afraid. She had bene in danger before, in dark dangerous locations and positions where she had only just survived. She had lived a long life, and fought a lot of enemies to end up where she was. She was well used to death and fighting.

But then?

Then, she was terrified. She could see what that thing was doing. The power it had, the sheer evil of it as it ripped her swarm apart and laughed without end.

And each changeling came the little promise:

You’re next. And I won’t make it quick.

She glanced back at the sleeping forms of Celestia and Luna. She envied the peace they were in for a moment.

But it was only for the moment. There was no escaping what was coming.

She made a choice, and freed the twin alicorns herself. As they recovered, both confused as they saw her and not anypony else, she sighed.

“Get up. I… I need help.”

Luna coughed, and Celestia shook her head in bafflement. “You… ask for our aid?”

“Yes.”

“This is a dream.”

“Does this look like a dream?!” she snapped. “Can’t you sense that?! That evil coming for us?”

“My swarm can only slow it down. Alone, I would be tormented o the end of time. Together, we might offer some resistance. So I propose this:”

“If we survive what is coming, I will find a peaceful way with you. I will find some way to live in harmony.”

“But to do that, I need to be alive, and with all of my limbs attached. And to have that, you need to rally yourselves, and be ready to fight something truly horrible.”

Celestia stared at her, Chrysalis visibly distressed. She could sense the evil that was in the castle. She could tell that Chrysalis was afraid of it.

She was a little afraid of it.

“Where are the bearers?” Celestia asked as she got to her hooves.

“Coming soon. They have their own allies, and will arrive soon.”

“… Then I accept your deal.”

“Tia? Are we sure?”

“We face the nightmare together. And we either stand tall as on, or fall apart. I’m expecting much from you… queen Chrysalis.”

“You’ll have anything, but I do not want to die like that. And if I live as a cripple, I am going to hate you forever.”

“That is acceptable.”

When the group arrived in the throne room, they had expected a few things. The bearers had expected to find Chrysalis, ready to fight them. Honest was expecting to find her angry, or upset, and ready to fight as well.

Entering the throne room to have Luna pull them inside and Celestia sealing the door with Chrysalis was entirely unexpected.

“Princesses?!”

“Pardon this.” Luna said, only just now noting that she had grappled an older griffon into the throne room. She glanced at the crown and blinked.

“My apologies your majesty.”

“Luna.”

Luna turned to add her own magic to the seal while Celestia and Chrysalis looked at the group.

Honest stared at the queen, and she stared at him. Then she simply sighed, said “Pardoned.” and completely ignored him.

“Princess what is,”

“No time my student. Do you have the elements?”

“Yes, but,”

“Luna, Chrysalis. Twilight, focus on them. They will be made whole once again.”

Twilight stared for a moment, the other bearers and Honest simply speechless. Then she swallowed, and focused on her spell again, and felt both alicorn’s and the queen give their own strength.

The elements slowly shaped themselves as the others shook off their stun.

“What th hey is happenin?”

“Honest?”

“…She forgave me…”

“…I never did catch your name darling.” Rarity said, looking up at Stonebeak.

“Stonebeak. And you?”

“My name is Rarity.”

Rainbow just kept looking around, and then looked at Pinkie who was confused near Honest as he just kept on muttering ‘she forgave me’ over and over again.

Chrysalis glanced at him and muttered to herself.

“Get up and get ready!” she snapped at him. “If you want to be Honest, you are going to help right now!”

Honest leapt, completely shocked. But… he had to act. She was giving him a chance.

There should never have even been something that even suggested a chance, but she was giving him a chance. Calling him by his chosen name.

“I’m ready!”

“Honest?”

“Pinkie?”

“Where’s Hag?”

Honest passed and Rainbow, finding something she had interest in and could understand, headed over.

“…I don’t know.” he said, sighing.

“Dead.” Chrysalis said abruptly, and all three looked at her.

“The thing showed up right where she was. She is dead, very, very dead.”

“You can’t say that!” Rainbow said, frowning. “Hag is really good at… things!”

“Yeah! She’s alive!” Pinkie added. Honest hesitated for a moment before deciding to follow their example and nodding in agreement.

And so they all prepared in their own ways. Readying themselves for the monster that was coming as Twilight slowly fixed the elements with the two I had found.

They found magic, but how and why, and when it had arrived, not one of them knew. Maybe it just… happened from the concentration of magic. Maybe it just arrived because it was needed.

Maybe something else gave it to them. To give them the chance they needed.

Chrysalis sensed it first. Her swarm was mostly gone, only a bare few remaining. Nothing remained to slow it.

The twin alicorns sensed it next as it arrived just outside of the door. Their work had just completed, and once again, the elements were repaired.

“Quickly.” Celestia said, distributing the elements to the bearers. They gathered them, and the group readied itself.

A few minutes passed without any action, and they all waited. Wondering what the thing on the other side of the door was doing. They waited, and waited some more.

Until Chrysalis stomped in frustration, unable to bear the suspense. As the other glanced at her, the door shifted.

The seal was disrupted. The magic shattered by one well aimed blow. A weakness that neither princess had noticed, and they tensed greatly.

The door remained shut for a moment, and then it slowly opened.

Truth and Lies

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Of all the things I have ever seen, all the monsters and horrors I have seen and experienced, not one of them had frightened me. They are terrifying beasts, horrifying monsters, things that scar the soul, but not one scared me.

I was afraid of something else that made them all seem like nothing.

I was always aware of it, but most often, I would hide it from myself. Pretend that it wasn’t there, and everything was fine.

Even when it wasn’t. It was never fine, and I had only lied to myself for a very long time.

I first became aware of it when I was young. In fact, I was just six years old, living with my parents and family in my home.

My land was harsh, and my father decided that we had to learn to kill on our own. So, once we were old enough, he would take us out to the rabbit hutch and have us kill one. We got a choice between our hands and a knife.

When my turn came, I chose the knife with trembling hands. Reasoning that it would be faster for the rabbit. And for me.

My heart beat hard and fast as I stared at it. Holding the knife, trembling in place much like the rabbit was. But I calmed watching the rabbit tremble.

I killed it easily and quickly. And felt its blood spray on my hand.

I liked the feel of that.

Father congratulated me, and it all seemed normal, but I wanted something more. I didn’t have the words for it, but I plotted for it.

That night, I stayed up, and as my family slept, I escaped back outside. With the knife.

I went to the rabbit hutch, and chose three rabbits. I spent hours outside, and came in happy and feeling… fulfilled.

By chance, I glanced to my left. Where my mother’s old mirror was kept. Mirrors were very rare in my old home, difficult to make and easy to break, but she had one. I still have it, back in my hut.

And I saw myself.

I saw myself grinning from ear to ear.

I saw myself happier than I had ever been.

I saw myself wearing a bloody dress, and holding a bloody dagger in a hand soaked in blood.

I saw the mark where I had wiped the rabbit’s blood onto my face. I remembered what I had done and smiled more at my reflection.

I reached up and traced the lines of blood on my cheek. I looked down at the bloody dagger, and my hand, and my dress. I walked closer to the mirror, to see myself better in the dim light of the moon.

I looked back at the mirror, and saw a demon smiling back.

I had never been more afraid of anything then right then. I was terrified to the point of speechlessness. Unable to make a sound as I ran to clean myself, hide the rabbits, bury the knife and my dress.

I was terrified by myself. By what I had done so happily and easily.

And nothing ever held any true fear for me ever again.

I denied myself. I denied that I was that person I saw that night. My whole life was running from myself. I lied, and said that I didn’t like things to be hurt. I lied, and said that I wanted to save and help. I lied, and said I was something other than what I was.

I ran from home two years later to become a hag. To find something to make the urges to kill and harm stop.

As a young hag, they didn’t leave me. When I met my love, I didn’t run because of anything good.

I ran because I was dreaming of killing him. Even the discipline of a hag and the love I felt was not enough to quell those feelings.

I bargained with Uwe that night. Take this from me I begged. Take me from myself, and keep it far away. Any price, to not be myself. I demanded, argued, fought. I nearly broke the order with my desperation.

And yet, Uwe spared me that death, and agreed, and took my fate. He shaped my life for decades, but the urge was gone, and I grew strong. I was good, and it was easy. The urge was gone.

When Discord stole my fate back, that urge came with it, but it was weak and ignorable. It grew, but I controlled it.

It whispered in my dreams, but I denied it. I refused to hear it, to acknowledge it in any way, and the rare time when it was impossible to ignore, I ran from it.

But the dark magic in me fueled it. Made it stronger, and louder, and harder to ignore. I began dreaming of violence again, and delighting in it.

And when the changelings had attacked in Eaglemount… I had struck in defense of others and myself. But…

I had done so in sheer joy. The feel of the fight, of killing and hurting filled me. When they wrapped me in a cocoon, my dreams had not been of a peaceful life.

I had been standing in a fire I had lit, and was hurting and killing. And nothing could ever be better. I exalted in the dark magic, and abused it, demanding more and more from it without end.

I wanted the power to hurt more, and more easily.

I wanted to make things bleed. To make them suffer. Changeling, pony griffon, friend, enemy, it didn’t matter.

I wanted to hurt them and kill them.

My fear came true.

And I became who I had once been. I wielded dark magic as if I was born to use it, and killed. I ripped out of my cocoon and killed. They came at me in swarms, and I killed. I made it painful. I tore them apart. I left them to bleed out, I painted the walls and myself with their blood.

It was warm, and wonderful. So wonderful. The best feeling was the final beat of a heart and the hot blood as it sprayed from a stump where a leg once was.

I delighted in it. The dark magic freeing me from my false self. It burned away my inhibitions, dulled my fear.

And anything that used to be Hag was left dead or helpless.

Swift managed to escape me. He had tried to stop me, but he couldn’t.

I was barely able to find some compassion, and let him go. A tiny, tiny bit of something not evil was still in me, and it was able to make me hesitate, and allow him escape.

But it was helpless. I had thought I was strong. I was wrong.

I was only blinding myself. I wasn’t fighting the evil.

I was fighting myself. There was nothing stopping me but my own lies to myself. I was too old to be able to trick myself anymore.

And the moment that was clear, I was free to become what I truly was.

A monster and a nightmare. A blight on the world.

It was what I was.

And I loved it.

I reached the throne room when I had run out of changelings. It was sealed tight, with much magic. It was nothing to stop me.

But looking at it, I paused. Something was calling to me, and I was curious.

I closed my eyes, and answered that call, sending my spirit to find it. In a black void, I saw the crystal tree, its light weak.

I saw Rose next to it, confused and looking around herself.

I didn’t approach. For a moment, I was lying to myself again, and I didn’t want her to see me.

I called out, “Rose?”

“Grandmother!” she said, her voice happy, but heavy with sorrow of some kind. I could see that pain she held.

“Grandmother, where are we?” she asked, trying to see me.

I didn’t respond for a moment. I knew what the tree was trying to do.

It was trying to stop me. Luring me to it, in a desperate hope to trap me. Rose was hurt, and that pain was making me happy and I was hating that it was making me happy. But it wasn’t enough to stop me.

I stepped forward, and Rose gasped and backed away from me as I glared at the tree.

It wasn’t really there. Just a vague image of power, projected into that ethereal void. I threatened it, and saw it flicker, and then I looked at Rose.

Who was staring at me, terrified.

“…Grandmother, what happened!?” she asked, taking a step toward me. “You… you look…”

“Rose. Stop.”

“Grandmother?”

“I… Stop. This is no longer binding to me. Nothing is.”

“What do you mean? Why are your eyes red? Why are you black? Why are you… looking at me like that?”

“I’ve lied for far too long.”

“Grandmother?” she asked, quailing. I saw her pain worsen, and I suspected that she had been lied to recently. Something she believed in had betrayed her.

And I was going to be the second.

“My entire life was just a lie Rose. I’ve helped, and worked to help, and cured. I felt happiness when I helped, I eased pain with gladness. I strived to be something good.”

“But I was just fooling everything. Even myself.”

“My joy is in the pain I inflict. My happiness is in seeing the death I cause. My cause is to take things apart and burn them. I was born to be this, this destroyer.”

“But when I was young, I was too afraid, and ran from myself. I hid it, buried it, built a life of lies. I became Hag, but Hag was never born.”

“She was made.”

Rose stared in horror, but somehow found strength.

“It can’t be! I saw you! I saw… I saw grandmother fight so hard!”

“No lie can do that!”

“A lie of decades. A lie given life by the sheer age of itself. Hag is nothing more than a mask I wore; a life of lies.”

I focused, and the dark power made it easy. My pony form burnt away and I stood again as a human. Rose gaped and looked up as I grew, and I grinned at her, my dress and shawl flapping in my power.

“I am Emeline Frostburn. I am the destruction of all. I have that power, that talent. That urge. The urge to burn, to hurt, to kill. To shatter what is, and laugh as it all dies by my hands.”

“I will never be Hag ever again. She is gone, and never was, and will never return.”

Rose stared, her eyes teary, immobile in shock. I shook my head.

“I am going.” I told her, and turned to leave.

“NO!”

I stopped. And then looked back.

Rose was crying, but she was shining. The tree was giving her its power, and she was holding it close to her. Her anger and grief not corrupting it as it should have, but rather tempering it.

Strengthening it.

“Grandmother is there! You are just some monster! You are the lie!”

“I am the true Emeline. Cease that useless prattle.”

“Never.” she growled. “Grandmother! Fight her! Get back up!”

“Stop it!” I snapped, growing mad. I flicked my hand, intending to simply brush her away from me.

She resisted the dark wave, and struck back. I grunted as her power stabbed at me.

She was strong. Very, very strong. A natural talent, and the tree’s might behind her.

“Let her go!”

“There is nothing left!” I yelled, and struck back. She hissed as I cut at her, but she healed in moments and glared. I glared back.

She screamed and charged at me, and I caught her, her light meeting my darkness. She pushed, and I held her, but only just.

We both struck at the other, both matching each other. We fought at that standstill for some time, screaming in anger at one another. My dark power matching the glittering light of her own, neither able to overcome the other.

“LET. HER. GO!”

“SHE. IS. DEAD!”

Then her defenses flickered, and I acted. I struck at her in rage like nothing I had ever felt, but I didn’t see what she had planned.

She blinded me, and I was stunned, caught in my own head. For a few seconds, I was unable to act and I heard her voice.

“I think I understand now.”

“The difference between what is true and what is a lie is so thin. The difference can be nothing at times...”

“Are we what we are born as? Or are we what we choose to be? If we choose to deny our birth, does that make a difference?”

“Does being born a changeling change anything?”

I began seeing things. Honest, at first a unicorn but then a changeling.

“Does it change what is there? Does the feeling of a heart matter nothing? The actions of a life? Does love change nothing?”

I saw Rose, sighing, and hanging her head.

“Are we doomed to be only what we are? Or can we change?”

Honest slowly turned back into a unicorn and she smiled at him.

“A lie becomes truth, just because we want it to be. We change our nature, our very being, and find a new life. We make the lie the truth, and the truth becomes nothing more than a phantom of the past.”

“Hag might have been a lie. You are Emeline. That is who you were born as.”

She looked at me, and I was caught by her eyes.

“Do none of them matter?” she asked, and I saw them all.

Thousands of faces, and thousands of voices. Smiles, and tears, and thanks. A man saved, a woman consoled, a child healed. All of my village, man, woman, and child. Every last being that I ever helped and felt glad for gathered before me, their voices making an uproar of sounds.

My darkness cracked.

“Is Hag just a lie?” Rose asked me, the voices of my memory fading to allow her own to be heard. “Was she just a mask, hiding a monster?”

I couldn’t say anything. My darkness faded, cracked even more. A tear fell from one of my eyes.

“Emeline Frostburn? Hag? It doesn’t matter. Born or made, it doesn’t matter.”

“All those actions, all those sacrifices… do they mean nothing?”

“Is it still a lie when you nearly died for it? When you did everything you could, and found life? Everything you did, and all the happiness you found by helping…”

“Does that mean nothing?”

“You were so happy at my wedding that you made an element from your tears. You sacrificed and laughed during all of my time with you. My happiness was your own, even beyond what you wanted.”

“Does that mean nothing?

“…Grandmother?”

My darkness fractured, and broke. I sobbed, and fell to my knees.

I was myself, but it was still there. So strong. Too strong.

The magic wasn’t leaving, and I couldn’t make it leave.

I sobbed, knowing the inevitability of it. I sobbed, knowing that I was Hag, but only for a moment.

Emeline would kill Hag, and then nothing would ever matter again.

Rose embraced me as I sobbed.

“Emeline, or Hag, evil or good, I love you. Two lives fighting each other…”

“Emeline’s going to win… But right now, you are my grandmother.”

“And I loved you like nothing else.”

I fought to respond to that, and found my voice somehow.

“Loved?” I asked her, and she only sighed. Rose vanished, and my vision reoriented itself.

And I saw Rose.

Bleeding. Nearly dead. Dying.

I had wounded her. Her blood was on my hands.

I stared and threw myself at her, feeling for her life. Her life so weak and fading. She was dying, and I had done that.

Two lives she had said. Two lives…

I ripped myself. Emeline was me, but Hag is who I made myself. I ripped and tore and fought.

Hag would never win. But she could win just for long enough. She stole life, and shoved it into Rose, and healed her as best as she could. It was just enough, and I was running out of time.

The magic was returning fast, and I had so little time left as Hag.

I returned to myself, once more a pony, and stared at the doors ahead of me. In a sudden act, I struck the seal, and watched it shatter. I fought to not giggle, and then pushed my way inside.

Dripping darkness and changeling blood, I entered the throne room. I was fighting to keep control of myself. Every action a bit of strength not holding the dark magic back.

I must have looked demonic. The bearers and the others recoiled from my sight.

I panted, and sacrificed a touch of strength to speak, the magic slowly regaining control of me.

“…Kill me.” I told them.

“Hag!?” Rainbow cried, and Pinkie moved, but I stopped her with a gesture.

“No! Don’t… don’t come close! I can’t… I can’t fight it!”

“Strike! Now! Before… before…”

I shuddered, feeling a nigh overwhelming urge to attack them. I looked at them, one eye lost to my control, and the other filled with my plea.

They had to kill me. Before I killed them.

I saw them think, and saw them decide that maybe they could save me yet. The elements activated, and Celestia and Luna caught me in their magic as I tried to stop them. I worked with them to hold myself as my grip slipped more and more.

And then the light was too much, and I screamed as it hit me. It burned me away. All that I was, washed away in the power.

I relaxed as I burned. The dark power was washed away and I let it keep burning me.

That was my end. I chose it to be that way. A lie just long enough to stop the truth.

Hag chose to die that day as Emeline screamed. I burned away to nothing, and when it was all over, all that was left was a little stain of ash on the floor.

Those gathered were shocked, stunned, horrified. What had happened echoed in most of their heads, and grief soon followed for some. Pinkie sobbed like she had never sobbed, Rainbow unable to show her own feelings.

I had died when I should have been saved. Celestia and Luna sought to find some answer, but they couldn’t. Stonebeak sighed heavily, and Honest simply cried in silence, staring at what I had become.

It was over. Emeline Frostburn had died. I had died, and chosen to die, unraveling Discord’s spell as I regained control in the cleansing fires. It was done. The nightmare was over. Everything was as it once was, or maybe a little better.

But I left bleeding hearts and hurt ponies behind me. For all the good I did, no matter how much that death was needed, I regretted it. I didn’t know if Rose would survive what I had done to her, and I knew the pain I would leave, dying right there in front of them.

I had to. I hated it, but I had to.

It was over, and done, and they would recover. I believed in that.

I was, of course, wrong, but I believed that.

Revelation and Destruction

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I woke in that white void again. Something gently pulled at me, woke me from my rest, and I saw the endless white once more.

I was lost and confused. I didn’t remember much at all. I was formless, my spirit loose from my body and I didn’t recall anything.

But I tried, feeling that gentle comfort still. I focused and thought, looking for my memories. I found them soon, and gasped as I recalled. And then I frowned; the white void was no afterlife and I was a little upset that I was there.

That is when I finally noticed. It wasn’t a void.

It was a spirit. An unimaginably massive spirit. I stood in its hand like I would have stood upon a vast plain. I was nothing to its size, its hand fit to hold a mountain.

I stared up at its eye, the one I could see. Filling the space above me with a whiter white that I could see.

I heard it sigh.

“I’ve been waiting for this.” it said, its voice massive, and coming from everywhere. “Waiting for you to finally see me.”

“…See you?” I asked. “I do not understand… Where is Uwe? Why am I here, and not there?”

“Because I wished for it to be so.”

“…Nothing can do that.”

“Only because I said so.”

“What?”

“I am who makes the rules. I determine right and wrong, and what is and isn’t, and what can be and what cannot be. I say how the deals work, and my power is gifted to spirit, avar, forest, land, and hag in unequal measure.”

I understood and gaped.

“I am who tells The Order what is ordered.”

“Avarantus…” I named him in awe. The greatest spirit. The first spirit, a god. The one who caused how everything works.

He was why spirits exist, and why I could be a hag. The reason behind the power of the land, and the nature of nature. It exists without him, but he gave it cause and direction. He made the rules that bind it.

“Do not be in awe, nor worship me. It doesn’t matter, and I wish for something else from you.”

“…What can I do for you?” I asked. “I am nothing to you.”

He is silent for a time.

“Can you feel that?” he asks me. “That little tug on you?”

“…Yes. That is you, holding me here.”

“No. It is something else, trying to never let you go.”

I understood and gasped. “Rose?!”

“Yes. She is scarred but will not leave the tree. Feeling for you and screaming your name into the voids beyond, she will not rest.”

“I need to return.” I said, but hesitated. “What do you want?”

He chuckled without much mirth at all. “I see you understand.”

“I am holding you hostage with me. Until what needs be done is done.”

“I wonder if you might find it odd or strange?”

“Just tell me!” I yelled at him, impatient to be done and return to her. “Tell me!”

“Look at me. See my size, and power, and remember the tales you know.”

“How old am I?”

I pause. Avarantus is very old. Most stories say that he is ‘older than any’ or even ‘without age’. There is no known measure for his age, and I can only imagine what it could be. Even lessor spirits have ages in numbers that I assume exist, but I’ve never used.

“You do not know, nor can guess. That is fine; I never found one who could.”

“I have lived for ages uncounted. I have seen the growth and change of everything. Patterns repeating without end. Humans growing, building, and then dying, only to grow, build and then die again, other races doing the same in their own ways. Everything repeats.”

“I influenced those patterns. I created a few new ones, wove the tapestry of my power. Fragments of my power sent away, each one given a different purpose. Create, heal, protect. Destroy, hurt, kill. Innumerable shards, and not one is the same.”

“And yet, I grow bored. I’ve been bored for too long. I have seen everything there is to see, known everything there is to know. I’ve been every kind of life, seen every kind of soul. The little variations are no longer enough for me to care for.”

“More and more, everything turned white. Everything blurred together. They lost their uniqueness in my eyes. Every life looks the same. Every place looks the same. Every sight, every experience, the same.”

“I live within a white void where nothing happens, and I feel nothing and see nothing but that which I hold.”

He was silent for a moment, and I felt a touch of sadness for him. I couldn’t even imagine what he must have felt like. How long he must have lived, and how that affected him.

“And when nothing, nothing was anything but white, I tried something else. I created again, and I went mad. I fought myself, I tried to make myself be my own experience. I sundered my mind into fragments and pieces and my body into parts and fought myself.”

“And now, I can’t remember which one is myself, if any of them are. I’m insane. A maddened being in nothing, suffering and bleeding alone with myselves. I felt myself drifting to Madness.”

“So I pulled myself together, and decided to try something... drastic.”

“I changed your birth, and gave you a talent. I broke my own rules, and carved a path for you. Your life has been chosen by me, from the very start, to the very end.”

“What?” I asked, blinking.

“Like a drowning man clings to driftwood, or a freezing one threatens to burn himself next to the fire, I gave you what I needed you to have. I made you a monster like no other, the destroyer that cannot be stopped. I frightened you with your own visage so you would run from yourself. I pulled your love from far and wide to meet you, and gave you the nightmares just so you would run from him.”

“I forced Uwe to spare you and take your fate. Through him, I made your path still, every person who found you, every monster that you killed. Every choice you made was the one I chose for you. To grow how you needed to grow, to learn what you needed to learn.”

“I gave that girl the talent you would see, knowing when you would see it and how you and she would react. And then I gave dark power to a few raiders, and had them slaughter everything you cared for. To begin the final path.”

“I threw you to Equestria, knowing that you were ready. I showed you how to break the unbreakable. I made Discord find you. I hurt the fillies so you would find them. I chose the action of everything around you. Discord threw you, and I caught you and tossed you into Rose’s rose bush.”

“I sent the drakes to you, and I pulled Honest to be where he would be found, whispering so Rose would find him. I used your spell to my own ends, so you would arrive where you did. I made the Timberwolves be where they were. I told the fairy what to say.”

“And in preparation for your coming, I shattered the griffon empire. I made them who they are, just so you would find them like that. I corrupted the mind of Greatwing to kill his brother, and I made his brother drink the poison to fall where he did. The changelings struck as I knew they would, and I kept sculpting, almost finished.”

“A little bit of dark magic. A few moments to nurture it, a few to keep you yourself. And then I ripped the mask from you, and allowed the monster freedom.”

“I whispered to Rose and told her how to call you. You came, and I gave her the strength she needed to have so she would see and know what she needed to. To get you in the place between evil and good, chaos and order.”

“And where the elements should have purged the darkness from you, left you whole and healthy, I made them burn. I made them destroy where they should have saved. All for one thing:”

“That you would arrive here, as you are, knowing what you know. Your entire life made so that this would occur, and that you would know what you needed to know.”

I was speechless. I was unable to even really think at his revelations. His exact words were far more explicit, and I knew that he wasn’t lying.

He had made my life and me to his desire. Nothing I ever did or chose was my own action.

It was Avarantus, using me, and everything near me, like puppets on strings.

“But now, it is over. You have the talent and the knowledge and everything you need.”

He shifted and I saw a red glow appear before me. I knew it, despite no one ever knowing it.

It was his heart. The place that he lived, the true essence of his being. I knew every spirit had one, and I knew that I only knew that because of him.

“Strike.”

I stood perfectly still. Trying to think what I could do, or say, and if anything I did or said was being influenced by him.

It was the worst thing to discover that everything about your life was written in advance. I felt… I felt like I was nothing. Like nothing I was mattered.

And then I felt that he knew I would feel that way, and then wondered if he had even anticipated that.

I wondered if I had ever had a choice made by me, by myself. If anything I ever experienced wasn't chosen by him.

I don’t think so.

“Finish this.” he said, his heart pulsing with his words. “End me, destroy me, and find peace. Cut the strings I hold, and find your own way.”

“You killed me.” I muttered. The one real thing I could hold onto.

“And my last gift is to give you life again. Kill me, and my essence will be enough to remake you.”

“Do it. Fulfill your birth. Be the destroyer I made you be. Shatter my heart into a billion shards. Be what I made you to be. Finish what I destined you for. Break the pattern. Stop the repetition.”

“All your hate, all your power, all your darkness, use it! Everything I gave you, take the threads and rip them asunder!”

“Save yourself, and be reborn with my death! End my existence, my agony, my void!”

“Save me from madness! Strike!”

I hated it. I couldn’t stop it, but I hated it, and hated it, and hated it.

I hated him, hated that I hated him, and then hated that I hated hating him. I felt everything he had made me resonating.

I was angrier than I had ever been, more than I should have been capable of being. Hate, pain, darkness. I saw patterns that I despised without reason, life I hated without cause. All I was, was a nightmare.

A nightmare to end him.

I rose up and struck at his heart. I felt all the strings of fate he held. Everything he was made of. The eternal thing he was.

And I tore at everything with such hate that I broke what should have been impossible to break. I ripped and tore and scratched, snapping shard after shard. Piece by piece, I broke his heart, until it could take no more and shattered.

I stopped then, my hate vanishing as if it had never been, and I watched the spiraling shards of red in the white. I saw Avarantus fading away like he had never been.

“Thank you…” I heard him whisper as the last parts were gone. “Be free…”

I felt it then: his hold on me faded with him, a grip leaving me. I had never noticed before then, but I felt…

I don’t know how I felt at that. That freedom that I never had, but never knew I lacked. I was suddenly aware of his grip, and then it was gone.

I was free, but I had never been imprisoned.

It was confusing.

Rose’s tugs were a little stronger, and I almost denied it. Almost denied his last gift from spite.

But if I left it, what was I? What would I be?

Nothing. I fulfilled what I had been born for, and was left… renewed. Empty. Directionless. Nothing ordered me anymore. I made a choice.

I grabbed the shards of his heart, and found the power in them.

I suppose I can compare it to knitting. Like I was knitting a new form together. I chose what I wanted, and I knew that it was only my choice, influenced by only what I wanted to be influenced by. And I knew what I wanted.

I was going to be a small, elderly, white pony, with a silver mane and tail. One eye blue, and the other green, with little bouts of stiffness and pain.

I was going to be Hag.

It took some time to create, though time in the white void was a strange and sometimes useless thing. Then I was done, filled my new form, winced at my sudden aged body, and smiled.

Then I turned, and followed Rose’s cries.

I had so much to tell her. So much to apologize for. So many things to say to so many ponies. So much to mend.

My life my own, my body my own, my fate my own.

I left what was now truly nothing more than a void.

Though…

I would swear that I somehow felt Avarantus smiling at me as I left.

Return

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Time in the white void was… malleable. Not in ways I understood, nor understand mind you. But it… it doesn’t flow right. Time passes in strange, unpredictable patterns in there. I suspect it can be controlled, but how, I do not know.

Anyway, I spent some time in there that time. I arrived in Equestria around late fall. I arrived at Avarantus at the cusp of spring.

It was late fall by the time I made it back.

A lot happened in my absence. After my rather violent death by what had been always seen as saving, purifying artifacts…

Suffice it to say that the elements were very secure after that.

Chrysalis held onto her promise, though she did so with a certain amount of regret. She made the twin princesses lives a misery, trying to get Celestia to break her own promise through acting like a spoiled brat.

I think Celestia drove her insane by never even so much as giving her a sour face. Luna might have tried to kill her a few times, but overall, it…

It could have been worse.

Stonebeak returned to his home after a time, and they received him with such joy, I am sure that they did not cease celebrating for months. He began working to rebuild the griffon empire, and his very first act was to renew and extend the alliance between griffon and pony.

Honest… hid himself away. After I died he just shifted and walked off, intending to just… fade into obscurity. Unable and unwilling to dare to face his faults or Rose.

The bearers returned to their own homes, with a few new scars.

Twilight was left with questions. Far too many questions that often drove her to a mild form of madness, trying to work out how, and why, and everything while missing pieces of the puzzle.

It got bad enough that she tried to free Discord, so he would answer. Celestia and Luna had to stop her, and get her to calm down. After that, she simply sealed it all away. In a box marked ‘to be opened ~~when Hag comes~~ never’.

Rarity and Applejack tried to resume their own lives. They had… a faint fear of the elements then, they all did, and did their best to avoid any mention of me. Which, considering the girls were nigh inconsolable for about a week, was just about impossible. Fluttershy did her best to help them all feel better, though she had the greatest trauma of them. She’s a strangely strong mare when she has to be.

Pinkie was… I’ll get to that later.

Rainbow…

They couldn’t fix her wings. She was… angry. Yelling and lashing out for weeks, mixing sadness with rage. None of the bearers could calm her down. She isolated herself, and approaching her was an invitation to screams and sometimes worse. Ponies feared going near her.

It took the courage of Scootaloo to go up to her broken idol, and suggest that together, both unable to fly, that they were closer sisters than before, to finally rouse her again.

It was a long, hard road for her. One that wouldn’t get better until I returned. Learning to walk everywhere, learning to use her hooves instead of her wings for everything. Giving up her cloud house in exchange for a place on the ground. Taking life slowly, trying not to be bitter. Living day by day, Scootaloo nigh constantly by her side. Always keeping her from giving up.

And Rose…

The bearers helped her. She never stopped waiting for Honest to return to her. Staying up at night, keeping a window open for him. Thinking about what she would say and do when he came back.

And… I can’t even imagine what that faith must be like. I never believed like that. In anything.

Not once. Not for a single instant of time did Rose think I was dead. She held that certainty like… like nothing I’ve ever seen or felt before. A faith harder than steel, stronger than everything. A fire that would never, ever, dim.

Faith to put the gods to shame.

Each day, she would go to the crystal tree. There, she would sit down, and call for me with all of her might. Not in a physical way, but spiritually. The same way I do.

I know that it was a combination of that faith and her call that allowed me to hear her. Allowed me to muster the ability, and desire, to return.

She saved me twice.

Of course, as time passed, she began having a harder time traveling. As her pregnancy progressed, she had a harder time moving, along with the varied symptoms associated with pregnancy. That never stopped her either.

The bearers tried to. They never went so far as to prevent her mind you, but they did their all to convince her not to go. Fearing the Everfree, and fearing for her, they never really stopped trying. And every time, they would watch her walk into the woods, worrying for her.

Seeing her never give up, always knowing me alive, always making that trip… most of them never really knew what to think. Except the one. Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie Pie was devastated by my death. Pinkie carried a far deeper, more personal pain than the rest. She, more so than any other, really thought of me as a close friend. And for Pinkie, friend was the same as family.

After my death, she lost a lot of her energy. She put up a brave face for the others, though a blind pony could see she was suffering. None of them ever knew how deeply though. Nopony save Rose.

Rose noted how the bearers tried to convince her to not make her trip. And she noted that Pinkie was never one of them, and when she asked, only got the response that Pinkie wasn't feeling well.

So, one day, she got up early, and went to find Pinkie. She found her… less than good. Really, really bad in fact.

And she somehow gave Pinkie a part of her faith. Got her to stand up again. Got her to have hope again. A weak, trembling, painful hope, but it was hope.

Hope more in Rose than me. Pinkie couldn’t muster the faith Rose held. Pinkie didn't smile, but she no longer sank into such depression it could kill a pony.

After that, Pinkie would help Rose travel, every time. She would wait in the woods, and join Rose soon after Rose entered, making excuses to her friends later on as to where she had been.

She would sit with Rose, help Rose stand up and sit down, assist her with the stairs, help her through the woods, carry a lunch, and just be there.

It was late fall that time. Growing colder in the Everfree, winter planned in the upcoming month for the rest of the land.

Pinkie had to just about carry Rose down those stairs. She really shouldn’t have been making those trips as she was, but Pinkie and everypony else knew that nothing would stop her. She took precautions, but expectant mothers simply shouldn’t attempt that kind of exertion.

The elements were whole once more, and the tree was recovering. Not as well as it could have with the elements actually present, but it had regained most of its glory. A touch dim, maybe a little weak, but it was there once again.

Pinkie set out a blanket for Rose to lie, not sit, upon, and Rose settled on it gratefully. Then she resumed her calls, and Pinkie sat nearby, simply staring at the tree.

I heard her. Chasing her voice, trying to discover the path, always bolstered by her faith. Avarantus’ void was distant from everything. Held apart and away such that I nearly got lost walking in a straight line. Such that I could in that place anyway.

But it was that day, and no other, that I was closer than ever. That day, and no other, that my determination hardened. That day, and no other…

That Pinkie somehow called for me as well.

That was the last piece I needed. The last echo I needed to determine direction.

And it had me more than a little curious about how Pinkie had been able to do that as well, so that helped.

I discovered the edge. I found it hard, a wall between me and them. Because I made my form in the void, and not after I got out, it kept me within. Whatever power had pulled me to and from before was missing.

That didn’t stop me either. Free I was, but I still had the talent of destruction. I saw the weakness, the method, and I struck.

Rose told me it was like the air cracked. Shards of nothing falling to reveal the whiteness beyond, and after a moment, me, bucking at it.

I turned, and shoved, trying to escape as the stupid thing tried to heal. Pinkie rushed to my aid, and kept it from slicing me in two, breaking off growing shards before they could harm me. Then she grabbed onto me and heaved.

Pinkie threw me, and I saw her fall over, but before I had gone halfway, Pinkie was already there, ready to catch me, deep sorrow being replaced by joy faster than I’ve ever seen before. She turned pinker, seemed to begin shining from within, her eyes near glowing, her grin growing to simply ridiculous sizes.

She caught me, and it was like I hadn’t been caught at all. It was so soft and gentle I didn’t feel a single thing. I felt and saw control in her like I’ve never seen. Strength to crush rocks commanded perfectly.

“Hag!” she nigh screamed, hugging me. Not setting me down.

“Grandmother!”

“Pinkie!” I yelled, mostly due to embarrassment, “Old mare!”

She let go, allowing me to stand on my own. I sighed faintly, and saw tears in her eyes. Then she just started laughing, a little tiny laugh I never heard from her before that soon turned far louder. Crying and laughing at once, as pains in her healed and were washed away in a tide of happiness.

She stopped herself, and wiped at her eyes before smiling at me with the most… happy face I’ve ever seen. Like she was truly the element she carried.

“Hag.” she squeaked, her voice a touch effected.

I resisted at first before allowing myself to soften. I smiled back, and said, “I missed you too Pinkie.”

Then I turned to Rose before Pinkie got me crying, and went to her, as she couldn’t get to me. Not that she wasn’t trying.

I stopped her, and hugged her myself.

“You’re back.” she softly said, closing her eyes as she held me.

“Because of you.” I told her. She let go and stared at me, surprised.

“What?”

“It was you Rose. Your voice, your call. I wouldn’t have returned without that. You got me back.”

She teared up a little at that, and I glanced at Pinkie, intending to finish before I couldn’t contain it anymore.

“You helped too.” I said, and simply braced.

Pinkie grabbed us both, and laughed a perfect laugh. Eventually, Rose joined her, and even I did after a moment. All three of us, laughing and holding one another.

I was back. I was alive. I was free. I was with the dearest pony to…

…Spirits with it. I couldn’t deny it then, I shouldn’t deny it now.

Rose was my dearest granddaughter, and meant more to me than anything else had before.

And Pinkie was right behind her. My dearest friend. The left to Rose’s right. Rose, my heart, and Pinkie, the energy of my life. I was with them again.

That moment is very, very dear to me. So many emotions, all combined together as we hugged and laughed in front of the tree. The tree brightened with us, and shone.

Perhaps the absolute tip of it all, the final addition to a perfect moment, was what it said right then.

Welcome back Hag. We missed you.

End 1

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I’m not really sure how long we were like that. But, in the end, Rose needed to be in her own home, resting, and I had things to finish.

I got up, and both Rose and Pinkie took that as their own cue to pull themselves together and get up, Pinkie helping Rose to stand.

I had barely said, “Stuff to do.” before Pinkie startled, recalling.

“Rainbow!” she yelped, looking to me. I only nodded, smiling, and she beamed once more.

“I know.” I told her, “Not to mention all the rest of it. Time to fix it all.”

Though Rose had, at first, seemed somewhat confused at Rainbow’s mention, my mention of things to fix got her to recall, and I paused, seeing her face shift. First to sadness, and then that belief.

“Grandmother,” she said, “I need your help.”

“…What’s wrong?” I asked, staring at her, both worried that she would ask for aid, and stunned at the certainty she had in me.

“Honest is…” she paused, and frowned, looking down and sighing before looking back, her belief then cut with regret. “I drove Honest away.”

I saw it instantly. Rose, discovering Honest a changeling, and though I didn’t know the details, I knew her reaction to that sudden discovery.

“…I’ll find him.” I told her softly, and she nodded.

Then, Pinkie bounding around us, uncontrollable energy pulsing out from her, we left, Pinkie only hesitating long enough to aid Rose and I up those stairs before simply vanishing ahead.

Rose chuckled at the Pinkie shaped dust cloud while it lasted and I grinned a touch, the both of us going at far more normal speeds. Being alone, and Pinkie gone, I glanced at Rose, wondering.

Out of them all, it was Rose who… knew.

As I glanced, she looked as well, and she saw my expression, and tilted her head just a little in thought.

“Grandmother?” she asked, and I looked away, snorting as I debated asking or not. “…What are you thinking about?”

“…Do you remember?” I asked her.

It took a moment, but I saw her recall. And she, for her own reasons, didn’t respond past a brief nod, her eyes somewhat distant.

I sighed, and I think she somehow knew.

“You’re not her.” Rose said, moving closer to me. I glanced at her, and she added, “You're Hag, my grandmother, and the savior of all those…” she paused then, trying and failing to find the word.

“People.” I told her, and she nodded.

“All those people.” she finished.

“I was born her.” I countered.

“That doesn’t matter.” Rose said, “What matters is that you escaped from that darkness. You broke the bonds holding you and now you’re free.”

I paused at her particular choice of words, though I gave my best to not give any indication of how close she actually was to the truth.

“You saved me so many times, and you saved all those others. I fought Em… her, and it was you who saved me.”

“It was you who saved me.” I muttered, though Rose was slowly wearing away my distresses over that past event. “I would have died in myself if you hadn’t ripped me out of it. With my own memories too.”

Rose only smiled. “You’re my precious grandmother. When I fought, I knew it wasn't you, and when I reached for you, I knew you would hear me, and that you would come and heal me. And you did. Just like how I knew you would.”

I chuckled. “The things you see…” I murmured, amazed at her ability of perception. “But Rose?”

“Yes grandmother?”

“I’d appreciate it if you never told a soul about what happened then. Or about humans, or anything, alright?”

“I wasn't going to.”

I paused, and Rose smiled at me again.

“I knew you wouldn’t want me to.” she explained simply, and I let that pass without comment. Maybe she just knew me well enough to guess that. Maybe she saw what I wanted then. Maybe she just saw and knew everything around her and simply put up some fake mask of ignorance. I don’t know; really, I didn’t actually want to know. It was Rose; that was part of what made her so special.

We made it to the edge just as dusk was starting, night swift approaching.

We both paused, hearing the confused yells fast approaching, and I, more used to it, only sighed, spotting Pinkie coming toward us. Rainbow atop her back, yelling in confusion, in what was in all likelihood her sleeping robe. Rose gaped.

“Pinkie, put me down!” Rainbow yelled as Pinkie hurried to us, skidding to a halt. “What the hay do you think you’re-“

“Rainbow.” I interrupted, smiling already.

Rainbow froze, and looked at me. She blinked, got off of Pinkie’s back, rubbed at her eyes, and then stared at me.

As she did so, I took note of her state. She was healthy, outside of her wings, which she had bound up tightly. Even through the cloth, I could tell their injury, but even then, I could feel it:

They were ready to fly once more, and just needed a little portion of life.

“…Hag?” Rainbow whispered so softly I barely heard her.

I gave her a gentle smile and nodded, happy to see her again. “I’m back.” I whispered to her.

A few more moments passed, Pinkie and Rose smiling as they watched, Rainbow still staring. I expected her to jump me like Pinkie had, but she didn’t.

Her face scrunched up, and she sat down. All at once, tears leaked from her eyes, though she kept them open and looking at me.

Stunned, I went to her, and as I reached to hold her, she reached to grab onto me, her grip somewhere between strong and weak.

As she pressed her head into me, she whispered, “I thought you died.”

I sighed, holding her. I… her reaction had shocked me, badly. I had no idea how much Rainbow might be affected by my ‘death’ until right then. “Rainbow… I’m back now.”

“I know.” she whispered, pulling herself together and looking back into my eyes. “It’s just… Hard.” She wiped at her eyes and gave a faint laugh. “…I… I had thought I lost you Granny, and,” she murmured, before suddenly pausing. She turned bright red suddenly, and swiftly added, “I meant Hag! I just got confused right then, Scoots talks about you and I just, kinda…”

I only smiled at her as she trailed off, awkward and embarrassed, but unable to deny her own feelings. “If you want to, you can call me Granny, Rainbow.” I told her. “You’ve earned that.”

She seemed caught between smiling and nodding and rejecting the idea in some protection of her pride.

“However, I have something to do. Something I wasn't able to when I should have.”

Rainbow paused, and asked me, “What is it?” before realizing. All at once, her eyes widened and a sparkle came to her eyes that was not unlike the one I saw sparkle in Pinkie’s own when she caught me.

I nodded. “Let me see your wings Rainbow.”

She actually trembled in eagerness as she turned and near ripped the bandages from them, weakly trying to extend them. They were weak, but not diseased. Simply uncared for, and crippled.

Rose winced a little at the sight, but I grinned more. Her wings were fighting to be whole, only stopped by a tiny failure in her life. Even a little healing would see them recover in time, but I owed her much more than a long recovery.

I called to the Everfree, and though it eagerly threw life at me, I still made sure to ask it properly. Then, green mist swirling around my hoof, I reached out and gently touched Rainbow’s wing as they watched.

The mist flew from me and curled around the wings before being gently absorbed. Rainbow gave a faint shudder and groaned, her wings flapping. Then they grew up, strength rushing back into them. In seconds, they stood tall, proud, and made anew, and Rainbow gently flapped them as she shuddered from the sensations flooding her.

I had barley opened my mouth before she sudden shot upwards in a powerful stoke, and screamed her joy as she went up. Pinkie stared up and laughed as she looped in the air wildly, both me and Rose startled by her sudden action and yell.

I shook it off, and yelled up, “Rainbow, be careful!” not from her newly healed wings, but more the idea of her flying like some maddened bird in the dark sky.

She laughed, but slowed her flight and landed in front of me. And once more, she darted forward and seized me in a hug, her wings folding around me before I could respond. Then she backed off as suddenly as she came, beaming herself, her wings still outstretched and shifting around.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” she yelled. “That felt so… It was…” she shuddered at the memory and looked to me with a certain hope. “Can you..?” she asked, and I knew what she meant.

To be specific, healing a crippled limb, particularly one used often, came with certain side effects. The strength returning with life is… I’ve heard one man describe it as ‘a taste of paradise’. Many have told me that there is no greater sensation that having something so weak and feeble to suddenly be restored again.

To answer her question, that being if I could give her the same sensation again, I shook my head, to her mild disappointment. “It only happens the once Rainbow. Just be a little careful with them; they still need a bit of time to remember everything.”

“I’ve,” she began in what sounded like a boast before she cut herself off. A second passed where she seemed unsure and hesitant before she nodded firmly. “You know what I need.” she said. “I’ll be careful.”

I gave her a faint look at that. “…You’re not going to not listen and do it anyway?” I asked her, Rainbow having never reacted well to me telling her to not do something before.

“Nope.” she said simply. “I’m not.”

“…Rainbow?” I asked, trying to understand what she was doing. I suspected, but I also kept on thinking that it was Rainbow. And Rainbow wouldn’t react like she was reacting.

She almost gently reached forward to hug me again, nuzzling me with some affection. “You mean way too much to me for me to do that now.” she whispered to me, softly enough that only I heard her. “Thank you…Granny.”

I sighed and hugged her back, which is when she then decided to stop acting like that and wiggled out of my grip before I could truly grip her, making me stumble a little.

“So.” she said as if she hadn’t just caused me to stumble nor left me in a state of confusion over her behavior. “You’ve been gone a while.”

I shook myself and stared at her. Then I frowned. “Rainbow, explain yourself.”

“What?” she asked rather defensively, not actually looking me in the eye. “I’m just happy you’re back Hag.”

“You just,”

“I just thanked you!” she interrupted, blushing faintly. “Nothing else!”

I gave her a look, and she looked back. Seeing the mild plea in her eyes wasn't hard. I huffed. “…Pick one Rainbow.” I muttered, understanding her then. Caught between the tough act and her emotions, she rocked between them, unable to actually tolerate her emotions when not actually emotional. And then the other side of her that actually was soft and gentle which she hid and denied existed.

Rainbow didn’t respond, and after a moment, I sighed, breaking the silence. “It’s getting late. Rose needs to get back to her own home, and I’m going with her. Pinkie, I expect to be able to sleep through the night, so don’t go and scream about my being back all over town, alright?”

Pinkie nodded once.

A short while later, and Pinkie and Rainbow were off on their own way as I got Rose settled in her own home. Once she was in her bed, she fell asleep more or less instantly. I, on the other hoof, had a hard time of it.

First, I wasn't that tired, so I didn’t get to sleep right away. Then I kept thinking of what I was going to do next, which only encourage me to think of everything I wanted to do. There were a fair few, and part of them were things I had to do.

For example: freeing Discord. Which meant I would have to find him, and finding him would likely need me to talk to the bearers. Simple enough. However. Celestia had stoned him, and thus, she would likely need to be asked before they would let me free him. Which meant I would have to talk with her. The angry sun goddess. The one that hated me, and I knew she hated me even if I wasn't entirely aware of why.

Nothing nice to think about. I kept seeing me walking up to her, opening my mouth, her glaring, and me bursting into flames.

“Grandmother?”

I looked, and saw Rose looking at me, her eyes half lidded, tired.

She pushed herself up slightly, and groaned. “What’s wrong?”

“Just thinking.” I told her, sighing.

Rose watched me for a moment or two. Then she didn’t say anything, and simply moved closer, so she could nuzzle into my side and grab hold of me.

I watched her sigh and relax once more, me in her grip. Then I smiled, and relaxed with her. Not really sure if I was taking strength from her, or being strong because of her, but my fears faded. I had things I had to do.

And nothing would stop me from finishing them.

End 2

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I slept for a fairly long time. Actually, Rose woke before me, and I slept through both her getting up and the morning light coming in. I even woke groggy and unsure where I was, which had never happened to me before. I’ll get to why later on, but until then, accept that my sleep was… busy.

Either way, I woke late, after Rose had already woken and left. I spent a moment or two lingering within the bed, thinking, before I got up. I headed downstairs, and found a surprise.

Pinkie had, according to my wishes, let me rest, and not gone and screamed about my being back all over town. She had instead gone to each of her friends, individually, and told them in a nice, quiet tone, and gotten them all to gather at Rose’s house where they were waiting for me to wake.

I can only imagine how Pinkie managed to get Twilight to actually wait, because the moment I was in view, she was up and active. Her horn lit and floating scrolls and paper out of a rather large box next to her, which only added to those that were already there with her.

After a moment of that, I blinked, thought for a second, headed downstairs, and asked, “Where’s Rose?”

Twilight paused momentarily, but Rarity responded, “In the kitchen.” with perfect control of herself. That in spite of her own, demanding curiosity.

“Hag.” Twilight said firmly, getting everything organized in her magic. “We need to talk.”

The rest of the day was spent in that one room. Talking. They told me their side of the story, and I told them my own… mostly anyway. I left out… quite a bit to be perfectly honest. There were several parts of my story that I would not tell them, and bits I won’t tell anyone.

Even you.

Anyway, we learned of one another, filled in the blanks between us. I learned their tale and their reasons and they learned mine and my own. Not everything was so easily spoken of, such as my keeping the girls away, or their lying to me about forgiving me at Manehatten. But if nothing else, we understood one another.

Save for my fear of Celestia. I never brought that up to anypony else before, and my saying I was afraid of the Princess surprised most of them and my describing her as a ‘vengeful sun goddess’ got them rather worked up. For the most part, it was confusion and surprise, but Twilight surprised me. Twice.

First was her abrupt anger over my description, defending her teacher with some fervor and emphasizing Celestia’s kind nature. And then stating that, apparently, it was actually forbidden to refer to either Princess as goddesses, a crime punishable by banishment. A fact that surprised me and everypony else that heard it. I asked her why it was forbidden to say the obvious and the best she could offer me was that it was simply ‘wrong’. And that it was wrong because Celestia herself had rather firmly put her hoof down on the matter.

I did think about pressing her about that, but I didn’t. There was no true point to it, and besides:

Even if it was ridiculous, it was demanded by the solar goddess and I was already in enough trouble with her.

So, I just told them that I felt Celestia wanted me dead and that I was afraid of her. That was enough to make everypony stop talking and stare at me, before recovering from that shock.

The others took this as opportunity to try and reassure me about Celestia, but Twilight took it as invitation to talk for longer and with more fervor than I’ve ever heard anyone talk. I’m not convinced she had not rehearsed that speech she gave, giving example after example of Celestia’s kind and forgiving nature and firmly stating, over and over again, that the absolute worst thing she ever did to anypony was banishment. And that only to ‘monsters’, only some of which Twilight described to me, but all of which were determined as being dangerous threats to ponykind that could not or would not be redeemed or pacified.

She very nearly restarted it when I seemed uncertain anyway, but I cut her off, saying I understood and that she didn’t need to make everypony’s ears fall off. She did give me a look for that, but stated, rather firmly, that she and the rest would be right by my side when I once more met Princess Celestia and that I would see I was wrong about the Princess.

I told her I hoped she was right.

All that done, I told them what I wanted to do: renewing the tree back to its former glory, finding Honest, meeting Celestia, and finally, confronting Discord.

Why confront, you might wonder. Long ago, I had presumed they had stoned him. They had not.

Discord had stoned himself, without any action on their part whatsoever.

Neither I nor them could puzzle out what Discord had been trying to do. He had perfectly convinced me he had defended me from some attack and given himself up for me. And after, he had remained stubbornly in stone, even when attempted to get him out of it. Eventually, the twin Princesses had simply ensured he would remain stone and moved him back to Canterlot, where he still remained.

Learning that was a shock to say the least. It changed my perspective on the Draconequus, and made me wonder more about his behavior so long ago toward me. All those odd actions I first dismissed so easily.

I would still free him, of course, but I made a firm determination to demand answers from him as well. Everything I had heard about him from them had made me… question his actions.

Twilight assured me that she and the others would go with me to Canterlot to meet with the Princesses. In fact, she said that we would do so first thing in the morning, to, in her own words, ‘finally get some closure on this entire disaster’.

I let her make that choice, since I didn’t really want to start an argument right then (the sun had already set and everypony was getting tired. Except for Twilight for some reason).

All that finally done and completed, the bearers each went their separate ways, everypony agreeing to meet at the train station tomorrow morning. Rose and I waved them off, and though I was tired, I felt… good.

I had tried to reach this goal for so very long, feared Celestia so greatly, that having it so close at hoof, and receiving so much support in my final tasks felt fantastic.

Rose sighed, tired, as she shut the door, and turned back to me with a tired smile. “That went on longer than I imagined it would.”

I nodded in agreement, but I wanted to know something. “Rose?” I asked.

“Yes?”

“What’s a train station?”

Rose hesitated for a moment before giving a little chuckle. “It’s where trains stop, grandmother.” She told me. Before I could ask more, she added, “Trains are like big, long carriages that go really far places. But its really late and I’m tired and apparently, we’re going to Canterlot at sunup, so can we please just get what little sleep we can?”

“We?” I asked, even as she and I began heading back upstairs. “Rose, you shouldn’t be,”

“Grandmother,” she interrupted me with a firm voice, “there is absolutely nothing you can say to convince me not to go. I’ve walked through the Everfree like this, I can handle a train ride and walking through Canterlot. And there is no way that I'm going to let you go and face your fears without being there. You're my grandmother; and I'm going to be by your side as long as I possibly can be.”

I smiled a little at her words. Then I whispered, inaudible to her, "As I will be by you, my beloved granddaughter."

I was feeling nervous all through the train ride to Canterlot. Though the bearers and Rose were right with me and Twilight had already sent a letter on ahead to Princess Celestia, I was nervous.

Part of that was for the upcoming meeting.

The other was the oddity of the train. Rose found my behavior familiar, having been with me throughout Manehatten, and the train was far easier to understand and learn about than the big city had been.

The bearers found my ignorance strange, though Twilight was not only happy to, but actually eager to tell me everything I wanted to know about it. As we neared Canterlot, however, the curiosity about the train gave way to growing nerves, particularly as Canterlot was reminding me a lot of Manehatten. The two places are incredibly different, but they were both massive cities.

Receiving an escort of royal guards to guide us directly to the Canterlot castle did little to calm those nerves. Rose was nervous right alongside me, for very different reasons, but the calm attitude of the bearers helped the both us remain at least somewhat calm. They even reassured me of their support and that everything was going to go just fine.

We reached the castle and were escorted into the throne room, where Celestia herself waited for us.

At first, she had sat tall and regal and determined, neutral and calm, the picture of a royal alicorn. To my sight, however, she was glaring from atop her divine perch, and once more her power, shining like the sun itself, frightened me. I’m not sure what she was expecting, but I am sure she was not expecting what I did.

I stopped in the doorway and attempted to back up suddenly, my fear of her momentarily overriding my normally determined nature. She was a goddess, and everything in me was screaming at me to get away from her.

I was only stopped leaving entirely by Pinkie who got behind me without me seeing her do so. My fear was soon noted by the rest, and while others tried to encourage me to follow, Pinkie gently pushed me forward and Rainbow helped pull me along as I more or less refused to move on my own. I looked back to Celestia, near terrified, but what I saw stopped me.

Celestia had actually stood up, and in a fleeting moment, I saw concern in her gaze. For a few moments, I saw the kind and caring pony Twilight had been so insistent she was, instead of the angry sun goddess I feared. And the angry goddess did not return. I stared at her for a small time before I relaxed a little, enough to begin walking on my own instead of being gently guided forward as I had been.

We reached the step of her throne, and I did not see the vengeful goddess I had feared. Her first words ensured I did not.

Before anything else, she first asked me, “Are you alright, Hag?”

I was stunned for a few moments, but managed to respond, “Yes.”

Celestia nodded, and I was… shocked at the relief she had as she sat back down. Almost as if she really cared about me, I was thinking at the time, the mere idea of such a thing enough to stun me. It was so... so incredibly unlike my ideas of what a god would behave like.

“Twilight had already explained much," she began as I watched her, "and before I ask you anything, I want you to understand this: I have forgiven you your actions, and wish for nothing more than for there to be peace between us. Please; tell me your story, so that this can finally be finished.”

I nodded slowly, still a little stunned, before I began once more told my tale. For the most part, it was the same as I told the bearers, though I was far more respectful of Celestia. I tried to be careful not to upset her, and ensured that I emphasized that I never intended any harm.

She stopped me from continuing to apologize over Luna as well; after the fourth time, she simply told me she knew and asked me to finish. The others were interested to hear that story, since I only lightly touched on it before and the bearers had only received the vaguest of impressions of what had happened between myself and Luna. I'm fairly sure one or maybe more of them had given little gasps during my retelling.

I explained how I had managed to defeat her as well, though I did not name nor describe the varied things I had used to do so.

Then Celestia, upon hearing that the monsters in my dreams came directly from my actual experience with them, firmly ensured I would never see her as what I feared her to be again.

She offered her compassion and sorrow that I had ever had to endure such things, and hoped that I might never have to do so again. With that, she was no angry goddess, but a kind and caring pony, just like how Twilight had described to me.

Finally, I attempted to explain about the dark thing I had become, but to my shock, Celestia said she already knew about it.

Apparently, I was not the first pony to turn into something horrific through dark magic. She was unwilling to further clarify that particular subject, though I did not press her on it, and seemed very relieved when I said that there was no longer any dark magic within me.

“It is quite the tale, Hag.” She said as I finished. “It seems all of us have reached incorrect conclusions, and that we all seem to share some blame in this.”

“I,”

“No, Hag.” Celestia interrupted, shaking her head. “If I had tried to understand you as something else, perhaps everything might have ended that fall, when you first came to my attention. Over and over, we have wronged each other, and we share the blame equally.”

I hesitated at that, unwilling to blame her, or anypony, for what had happened. By that point, it was not related to any fear of Celestia, but a simple desire to wash others clean of any guilt.

Celestia smiled at my hesitation. “It serves you well that you would sooner accept guilt, Hag, than to blame others, even when that blame is deserved. However, there is but a few more questions I would like to ask.”

“Ask.” I told her.

“From what land do you come from, Hag, and from what do your powers come from?” Celestia asked me, “For though I and my sister both once wandered the world, I have never even heard of the land you describe so briefly, and never have I heard of the powers you wield.”

I hesitated, and felt the gazes of the others looking at me rather keenly. For a long time, I wasn't sure how I was to answer that, but I finally reached a decision.

“I come from a land farther than can be reached, Princess.” I told her. “When my village was destroyed, my spell cast me here, to the Everfree, and I feel that what was once my home is beyond any mortal reach.” I only watched her, seeing her nod slowly.

“I see.” Celestia said, thoughtful. After a moment, she said, “Your home seems very far away, Hag.”

I had a very sudden idea. “It really isn’t, Princess.” I said, making her hesitate. I grinned a little at her slight confusion, though a part of me was wondering what madness had taken me, for me to be playing with her. Comfortable as I had become with her, her power still shone like the sun she commanded. “Even from Canterlot, one can see the Everfree.”

A moment passed before she smiled, to my great relief. “That forest is your home now, Hag?”

“Yes, it is.” I told her, smiling. “As for my power: A hag’s power comes from the woods and spirits. We speak with the forests and the spirits, making deals and bargains with nature. Any hag’s power is borrowed power, granted to us by a spirit, or by a forest.”

“How is it that you speak with a forest?” she asked.

I paused a moment, thinking how to explain that, continuing to think even as I began. “To become a hag, one must give of themselves first, Princess. Hags stand between nature and pony, and to do so requires a sacrifice of self. In becoming a hag, one discards their first being, and accepts to bow to the laws and rules of nature; what we call The Order. In so doing, we are more connected to nature than any other, and through that we may hear the voice of the forest.”

Celestia nodded, understanding. “Then next, I ask, do you have even the faintest idea how you broke the elements of harmony, or how you managed to find the regents to have them repaired?”

“I do not know how I broke them, Princess.” I told her. “Nor can I tell you how I found Happiness and Loyalty. I can only describe it as Pinkie Pie once described it; I have a talent for destruction, but an equal one for repairing the destroyed. I can only imagine that that had something to do with it.”

She nodded, though I could easily tell she was slightly unhappy to not receive a clear answer. After a few moments, she asked me her final question.

“After your apparent death by the elements, where did you go, and why did it take you so long to return from there?” she asked me. “Why did we find ashes left behind?”

That, more so than the rest, made me hesitate greatly. Speaking of what actually happened felt… incredibly wrong. Like I absolutely should not tell her about Avarantus or the white void. The same feeling I got when I thought about telling the bearers and Rose about it.

That left me with no answer for her question, and the silence stretched as I tried to imagine an answer to give her. I was growing nervous, though she seemed impossibly patient, simply waiting for me. Until, at last, I decided to tell the truth… sort of.

“The dark magic had taken me over, then.” I said, sighing. “The ashes came from when that corruption as burnt away; the rest of me with it, because I was nothing more than darkness at that point.”

I continued, though Celestia tried to say something, “The elements spared my soul and washed the dark magic from me. I felt I had truly died, but they had spared my life. It took time for me to recover from that, to realize I was not truly dead. When at last I did, it was only the voices of Rose Bush and Pinkie Pie that gave me the determination to return. I do not know where the elements took me to heal me, but I emerged from the tree of harmony, whole as I once was before.”

Celestia watched me as I finished, and I was mostly unable to read her eyes. I didn’t look back at the others at all. I didn’t want to.

“…Perhaps the newly remade nature of the elements might have had some influence.” Celestia said, though her tone suggested she was unsure, her face thoughtful, if a bit concerned. “Never before have they acted in such a manner, but never before have they ever been broken and repaired.”

I did not respond, and merely watched her and waited until she finally looked back to me.

“What do you intend to do now, Hag?” she asked me.

“I feel I need to speak with Discord once more.” I told her.

“I feel we all do.” she said, her gaze flickering back to those gathered behind me. “You have given your answers; it is long past the time when he should have given his.”

I nodded, but she surprised me once more, standing up once again and walking towards me. “Please, follow me to the gardens Hag; that is where we have placed him.”

I stared at her as she passed me, and it took Pinkie nudging me to get me to startle and begin following after her, everypony else doing so already. As I rejoined the group, I saw several of the bearers glance at me.

To my confusion, they seemed happy. It was then I saw something I hadn’t seen before. Then that I finally realized something.

I stood amongst them, and I then knew that they stood with me. I could read it in their eyes; their belief in me, the trust they had given me. It confused me, and I wondered what had changed, for a moment, unable to understand them. Pinkie must have somehow read my mind in that moment, because she answered an unspoken question: “You’re our friend now.” she whispered to me with a wink.

Friends.

I remembered when Discord asked me if we were friends. I remembered the odd feeling I had when he asked me that, and his sheer joy when I had accepted him.

And I suddenly knew why he had done everything he had done. I knew why he had hurt them, why he fought them, why he had cast me away as he had, and why he had stoned himself.

And I knew it was all my fault.

End 3

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Nopony noticed my realization, nor the resulting worries I gained, as we went to the gardens. I can only imagine that they were preoccupied with their own thoughts as we went to confront Discord.

I feared what I was going to find. I didn’t want to see the results of my ignorance. I didn’t want to see what I had done to him. I didn’t want to face him at all, yet, I knew that I had to. But more than anything else, I feared what I thought was inevitable.

I feared what I thought I was going to have to do to him.

We entered the gardens, and I barely paid attention to it. It was pony-made nature, and it had nothing to me. It was beautiful, filled with flowers, set with care, tended to with care, but it had nothing. It was only lifeless plants and flowers and bushes and statues, and finally, Discord.

He stood in his own spot, and looking upon him, my heart felt heavy; the empty feeling of the garden seemed to lend to that sorrow. He still had that look of kindness on his face, he still reached out as if to hold something close and dear.

It hurt, seeing that.

We approached him, and gathered around him. I noted varied emotions present; the regret on Fluttershy, the mild apprehension on Rose, the stern face of Celestia, the angry glare of Rainbow, the slightly pained look of Twilight, Pinkie’s blank stare, Rarity’s mild tension, and Applejack’s determined eyes.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Then Celestia turned to me.

“Hag.” she called, and I startled faintly at her voice, brought from my painful thoughts. As I looked to her, and the rest looked to her and then to me, she told me, “If you would.”

I stared for a few moments before I firmed my shaking soul. I walked toward his stony form, to stop a few steps away, closer than anypony else. I knew that the rest were behind me, waiting, and watching.

I stared up at Discord, uncertain for a few moments, before I acted.

“I call thee, the Order.” I whispered, closing my eyes, feeling it answer me. “Bind and restrain us, I, Hag, the caller, and he, Discord, the one whose name I know.” A moment more passed before, feeling the gazes of the rest, I added, “Hide us from others’ sight.”

I felt the order respond. I opened my eyes, and saw the glowing circles appear around us, the power manifesting. With a sudden sound, the chains of The Order snapped around me, and then him. I heard the others gasp, but by then, The Order was done, and I and he stood alone, shrouded in mist.

“Discord… free yourself, and speak to me.” I said.

The shift from stone to flesh was almost confusing, swift and silent. Almost so fast and smooth that one might be unsure that he had been stone at all, and not simply mimicking it. He stared at me, and weakly asked, “Emeline? Is… is that you?”

I shook my head. “I am she no longer, Discord.” I told him. “I am but Hag now; no more, and no less.”

He seemed unsure; many emotions present in his odd eyes. I saw him glance at the chains that bound us and frown at them. Then he looked to me, and his confusion was obvious. That it was confusion, and not anger, made my heart bleed worse.

“…What is this?” he asked me first, lightly shaking the chains that bound him.

“This is The Order, Discord.” I told him. “It is the rules and power that all spirits and avar are bound to. The same to which you too, are bound, in ignorance or knowledge.”

“You called this.” he said, watching me. “Why?”

“I have restrained us both, that we might speak without action.” I told him, and I noticed the hesitation in him when I said that. As he failed to respond, I chose to continue, “After we parted, Discord, I spent months of time in travel, seeking the elements once again.”

“I know that.” he said. “…Something happened to you though. What?”

“…Much.” I told him. “But of all that happened to me, I gained knowledge and insight. And I realized something, Discord.”

“…What was this realization… Hag?” he asked, slowly and uncertainty, thoughtful.

“I realized that I was being a terrible thing.” I began, his uncertainty painful to me; I knew all too well the pain I was going to give him. “I realized that I was hurting things that didn’t deserve it. That I was breaking, had broken, something that shouldn’t have been broken.”

“…And I led you to believe that I was what I am not because of it.” I finished, and I saw something like understanding come to him; he was denying it though, not certain, not yet ready to believe it.

“…I don’t understand.” he said, wondering, watching me closely, noting my own discomfort, the regret I showed him. “Believe you to be what you are not? What do you mean…?”

I watched him a moment more before I looked away from him, unwilling to see his face. That alone made his suspicions worsen. After a few moments, I finally managed to tell him, “I made you think I was what was going to make you win.”

A moment passed, and then I felt his sudden rage, his abrupt denial. I could hear the chains rattle as he struggled within them.

What he was feeling is nothing simple to describe. I’ll try, but Discord is no being so easily understood; I might fail to actually explain him at all, but I will try.

Discord is something very, very old. He is his namesake, Discord, the opposite of the harmony that ruled Equestria; the two had been at odds since who knew when. I don’t know how long the history went, but one day, he fought harmony directly, and harmony had won; the first time he had been stoned.

A thousand years or more later, and he finally broke free, into a new age, into an age where he found harmony weaker, at least so he thought. Unlike facing the twin alicorns, he faced the bearers, mortal ponies, weak, susceptible ponies. The moment he broke free he had acted to seal his success, stealing the elements and corrupting their bearers. Yet, they overcame him, and he, in his arrogance and feeling victory finally in his mismatched hands, failed to notice until it was far too late to do anything about it. Once more, he was turned to stone, his victory snatched from him, and harmony had taught him a harsh lesson:

That anything, even a flawed, mortal pony, could wield it to overcome him.

It might be impossible to know the sort of effect that message has on an immortal being like Discord. He had felt himself unassailable, that his powers and manipulations were perfect. To have the bearers break free of his control, to have them resist his powers and all that he had done, to have them gather before him and overcome him, mortal ponies one and all…

His pride had been crushed underneath harmony. With that loss, he knew that he was never going to win over it, even though he was almost its match.

Soon after, Celestia offered him a chance at life yet, if he would agree to become reformed. Given to Fluttershy to be watched and guided, Discord had agreed, because what was life in a prison of stone forever? And despite his loss, Fluttershy was still a mortal, still easily manipulated, and it was simple for him to have her promise to not use her element against him. To but promise to be her friend, and she willingly gave up her element, and thus rendered the bearers unable to stop him.

Yet, Discord must have failed to see the effects his crushing defeat had wrought in him, and the invisible bindings he had gained. Despite everything he soon did, Fluttershy kept him as a friend, and refused to see him as the thing he was, not even when he was actively harming something.

And in so doing, she gained a hold on him. Something she finalized when he finally went too far for even her legendary tolerance. Even then, she refused to use the elements against him, and he thought himself free.

But then she took her friendship back, and he had suddenly realized that she had taken the one thing he had ever been given. A gift he had not wanted, a gift he had thought worthless, a gift he thought nothing to him. But with his pride shattered, with Fluttershy’s powerful insistence on their being friends, with her kindness breaking into his odd heart, he realized what had changed in him.

He found that he valued her friendship, and that it was the sole thing he had ever valued. The one and only thing that anything had ever willingly given him.

Thus, Fluttershy bound him tight with the invisible and immaterial chains of friendship, and Discord had despaired of it all. Though he lived, though he acted, he was bound and kept and he knew it all too well. The pet of harmony.

And yet, despite that knowledge, he had slowly begun to find a new way. He had slowly accepted his newfound life, though he often struggled with it. He took what he was offered, and soon, he learned to enjoy the little he was given, instead of hungering for all that he was denied. He was becoming something not quite himself.

And then he had met me.

And I became his friend, and freed him from the bindings that everypony else had kept on him. I gave him the world I had cared nothing for, I encouraged him to be himself. I freed him, and renewed him at the same time.

And even better, I was fighting his sworn foe, harmony. I was breaking its strength, battling to end its reign. I was ensuring that he would never be defeated ever again.

I became his friend, and freed him. I fought his foe, and became his ally. I empowered him, loved his power, loved his mind, laughed with ever mad thing he could think of.

I became everything he ever dreamed of.

And it was all a mistake. All an accidental lie. Then, bound in the Order with me, he realized that I was no longer the pony he had thought I was. He realized that now, I was working against him. He realized that now, I was a part of harmony, that I worked with the crystal tree he hated with all his being. That I had repaired what I had broken and now stood in defense of it.

Imagine that. To be offered everything, to think that you had it, only for it to suddenly be snatched away by the same who had given you it. To have it not only snatched away, but for more than what was offered to be taken with it.

“NO!” he roared, and I winced, hearing his rage, his pain. “No, this… this cannot… be!” I couldn’t look at him as he raged against the chains that held him, unable to break them despite everything he tried.

“Discord,”

“I trusted you!” he screamed. “I trusted you and you tricked me! You tricked me! I, I was, I was so, but now, now, I, I,” he roared suddenly, screaming with strange, discordant, sounds, screaming in rage and denial and pain.

I finally looked to him, and he seemed monstrous indeed. His scales were sharp, his claws glinted with something dangerous, his face and body shifted into something fearsome. He raged in the chains, unable to break them, but I never saw anything struggle so much against the Order before.

Finally exhausting himself against it, he panted, his eyes flashing in hate and rage. Glaring at me soundlessly in the Order’s chains.

“Discord…” I began, my eyes teary. “Discord, I never meant to do this to you.”

“But you have.” he hissed at me darkly, his eyes flashing red, his tongue forked and flicking out. “And what fate do you plan for me, Hag?” he spat.

I cried then, watching him, hearing him. I felt what was coming was inevitable, and I almost felt that I was going to not be able to do it at all, despite my assumption that there was no other choice. I felt I was going to have to banish him. An act harsher in the Order than it is amongst men and ponies.

Banishment, for a spirit, meant more than simply leaving a land or place. The Order would ensure that they would never return, that they could never return, by erasing them. Wiping their existence away until they were simply gone; spirits have no soul that would survive such a thing. They would simply end.

And with all my heart I did not want to see Discord banished. But all I knew then told me that I was going to have to. I knew that I had broken him beyond repair, that, in my ignorance, I had turned him into a monster worse than what he had started as.

Yet, before I could begin to tell him that, the Order wiped my tears for me, and in the few instants of clarity, I saw his own eyes, glaring in hate and flashing red, with their own tears in them.

That, and that alone, gave me the tiniest glimmer of hope; the finest hope that, just perhaps, Discord might yet be spared. And I seized onto that hope with all I had.

“I want your best, Discord.” I told him, and I saw him hesitate, confusion struggling to break through the anger. “I want to see you happy.”

“…What?” he asked, greatly confused, and I acted swiftly, before he could return to his rage.

“I meant it when I said I was your friend.” I told him. “I meant it every time I laughed at your chaos. I meant it when I said that I would never restrain you, but do you recall, Discord, the exception to that offer?”

“…The exception?” he murmured, watching me closely, thinking.

“So long as your antics remain harmless, and so long as you cure them after a time, then I said you could do whatever you wished to.” I reminded him. “Whatever you could imagine to do, I gave and still give you permission to do so, so long as you put it all back.”

I saw a flicker of understanding in his odd eyes, and I saw his form slowly reverting back to normal, and I grew hopeful.

“I want to see you happy, Discord.” I repeated. “I want to see your chaos, I want to hear your laugh, I want to see your smile. I want your best, but you have to understand that your best is… not what you are.”

“…What do you mean?”

I thought for a moment, struggling to put the idea into words. “Back in my home, Discord, spirits were nothing like you or the others. They were almost thoughtless; they had but one being, and they are unable to be anything more than that. But you’re so much more than that.”

“You’re Discord, as you told me. You represent discord, you are the spirit of chaos. But you’re so much more than just that. You have a being beyond just what you are. Back home, spirits could never be more than what they are, but here, you, and the rest, all of you are more than what you are already.”

“The cold horse is made of hate and anger, but he feels gratitude and happiness and even kinship. The other breaks any promise, refuses any bond, care nothing for anything, but it will still act on its own desires and even on the behalf of others, if it’s asked correctly. And if those spirits are more than their being, then I know, Discord, that you are as well.”

He watched me, curious, wondering, thoughtful, and I delighted, seeing him not angry. My heart rose and I smiled as I continued to speak.

“You found value in friendship, Discord. You found value in something that is set against your very being. Even after you met me, even after you thought yourself freed, you found happiness in being near me, and you found happiness in my own joy, just as I did yours. You are something more than but a single word: you are more than simple discord.”

“And with all my heart and soul, I would see you become all that you might become. I want to see you delight in your life. I want to see you laughing and happy and joyful, I want to see your chaos and ridiculous ideas. I want to see you never have to struggle or fight, and I know that the power lies in you, Discord.”

He said nothing, watching me for a long time before he looked down and away slightly, a faint frown on his face. We both waited in that silence, hidden by the mist of the Order, for some time until he finally looked back to me.

“…Will you be there, Hag?” he asked me, and I smiled at him.

“Like I told you so long past, Discord; this body isn’t long for this world.” He hesitates, a little saddened, and my grin grows. “But… that’s this body, after all.” I added with a wink

Discord blinked and I laughed. Seeing his sudden confusion, mixed with hope, I laughed all the more.

“If you but knew the things I learned.” I told him, still chuckling. “If you only knew what I have been given. Discord, I made this body myself; I chose this life. I chose to be aged. I chose to be mortal. But even now…”

“I am more than this simple shell of flesh and blood.”

I smiled at him as he stared at me, not really understanding, but he knew I was telling him the truth.

“Come the day when I finally pass, Discord, I won’t leave you. I’m not sure what will happen then, but know that, throughout the centuries, I will be there with you, forever your friend.”

“…You did it.” he murmured, shocked, though he hesitated, unsure, and asked me, “But, but how?”

“That is my own secret, Discord.” I told him. “Mine to have, mine to keep. The others are waiting though; I think that somepony is trying to work out how to break through the mist.”

With a faint rattle, I hold one hoof out to him, offering him it.

“Once, you asked me if we were friends.” I told him. “Now, I ask you the same. Are we friends, despite all the time past, all the knowledge we have gained?”

He grinned massively then. Wordlessly, he reached out to grab hold of my offered hoof. I felt the Order accept it, and in a sudden instant, the chains were gone, and the mist dissipated, leaving us standing in the garden, pony holding hands with the draconequus.

At least that was true for all of a half second before Discord lifted me up and seized me in a great hug, twirling in place, laughing in joy.

“Old mare!” I yelled, despite everything, the rest watching in varied levels of shock from the short and brief views I had of them as he spun.

Discord stopped, and held me out as though I was some sort of infant in front of him, his odd eyes sparkling with happiness. “Discord.” I growled, unhappy then, more so now; this was humiliating. “Put me down.”

He chuckled as he delicately placed me back on the earth, and then he looked at the rest, still smiling.

Before anypony, even Celestia, could speak, he did so first:

“I offer my utmost apologies for my actions during the past year.” he said. “If there is any remaining trouble, I offer to clean it up, good as new.” Celestia opened her mouth, and he added, idly glancing at his claws, “If you want any more information, I refer you to Hag: my dearest of friends.”

That had them all look to me, and I looked back, unsure how to respond to their collective gazes. Each one asked a different question. I chose the simple route, and focused on Celestia.

“We had a long talk.” I told her, and then added, “Discord is willing to do whatever it might take to prove himself, princess. And if he doesn’t, I’ll give him an earful and he’ll do it anyway.” I finished.

“…I suspect I shall have to ask you more later.” Celestia said, thoughtful. “Where do you go now, Hag?”

“To find the other half a heart broken in two.” I told her, and to my mild surprise, she only nodded, as if understanding.

A short time later, and I was leading Rose towards Honest. It wasn't hard to find him; he had kept the scales.

And I could always find the scales again.

End 4

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Due to the scales, finding Honest wasn’t too hard. Or, at least, finding where he had put them wasn’t hard; he’d been clever about hiding himself away. He used several different identities to secure each one in turn, and using other ponies to help ensure that if anypony did start asking around, they’d wind up going in circles.

It was quite clever really, and I admit; it got me. In many ways, if not for Honest himself, I would never have figured the whole mess out for myself, at least not without some overt measures. However, I didn’t need to worry about it much at all; Honest gave himself away.

You might remember when I threatened Honest what I’d do to him if he upset Rose. He certainly did; it was a big part of why he’d gone so far to hide himself.

Anyway, I’d been grumbling about his web of lies, walking down a street when a random mailpony looked at me apparently heading right to him, irritated and muttering, and screamed in terror.

I leapt to an easy conclusion, and he made it easy by slamming his panicked head right into the mailbox, getting him to suddenly turn colors and which also let me get to him before he could run. As for the ponies shocked to see an old mare tackling somepony in the middle of the street, Rose helped me with that. As Honest panicked in my grip, certain that I was going to kill him, Rose managed to get him to start thinking again by yelling that she still loved him.

Which got the nearby ponies to assume that it was a relationship thing, and not an attack, and relax again, which helped. Honest helped again by being a smart pony and calming enough to tell us to follow him to the little place he’d rented out in Canterlot, so we could have some semblance of privacy.

Once there, we talked. In short, Honest was feeling guilty for lying to Rose and hiding his true nature, while Rose was feeling guilty over having acted how she did when she found out; doubly so since Honest had saved her. Neither seemed really able to understand why they would be that way, and both unwilling to let the other forgive them for what they felt guilty about until they themselves were forgiven.

It sounds silly, but in a heated conversation between a wife heavily pregnant and a worried, depressed father, things were far from so clear.

I stayed mostly out of it, aside from assuring Honest that no, I wasn't there to hurt him. It was between him and her; I found him, but it was up to them to solve it. At least I stayed out of it until I got sick of it all.

So I asked him, “Was anything you ever said or did to Rose because you were a changeling?” and then to Rose, “If he had been a changeling the whole time, would it have mattered?”

That, at last, got them to stop and think and finally let them forgive themselves and then each other; remembering the true love each had for the other. It was emotional, but by that point, Rose was exhausted from it all, and Honest was little better, having finally been relieved of his guilt and fears. Still though, I had someplace to be, and Rose found the strength to keep going for a little while longer.

She fell asleep on the train ride back to Ponyville, resting against Honest, in perfect peace. As she slept, and I stared out the window, Honest surprised me, breaking the silence with a quiet “…Hag?”

That was the second time he called, but I turned then, wondering what it was; I had been focused on what laid ahead for me.

After a moment, he continued, “I was… hoping you could answer a question.”

“Speak it then.” I told him, deciding to listen.

He hesitated a moment, and then spoke, “…Do you know anything about our child?” In a tone suggesting worry, or concern.

I relaxed, sure that it was just new father worries and told him, “The child is healthy, Honest. No need to worry for it.”

“I wasn't really asking about that.” he said. “I was more wondering… what the child would be.”

“…They’ll be what they one day choose to be.” I answered, wondering what he meant, and he shook his head.

“Between pony and changeling...” he said, “What comes to be?”

I blinked, finally realizing what he meant. I felt somewhat confused as I asked him, “Don’t you know?” He shook his head, and I bewildered, asked him, “Changelings feed on love though; surely, a child between pony and changeling has been before, has there not?”

“Changelings do not form permeant bonds with a pony, normally.” Honest answered me. “All changelings are more parasitic, capturing a spouse or child and pretending to be them, gathering love for however long they aren’t discovered. My hive in particular was predatory towards ponies; it was the big reason I deserted.”

I nodded, listening; the story was familiar, in some minor part. I knew of changelings; fey creatures that snatched human children and replaced them with their own. What the child was meant for, no one knew, but the changeling would grow as a human until it was either discovered or reached the age of eleven, at which point it would flee back to its own kin, its true nature becoming apparent.

Changelings of Equestria were similar in their ability to shapeshift, but I don’t know if they have any connection to the changelings I knew, and honestly, I would say they don’t. The changeling I knew didn’t have a ‘real’ form like Equestrian ones, and I don’t think that the ones I knew of feed off love either. But who knows; maybe I’m wrong.

Perhaps they captured children to gain a love source, and the changeling child left behind was to be fed by the unwitting parents. I don’t know.

“Even if it did happen, changelings are born sexless, with the exception of the queen.” Honest continued, sighing. “We only mimic having a sex.” A short time passed before he finished, “I didn’t know I could get Rose pregnant, and now that it’s so close, I can’t help but wonder if the child will be… well, normal. And I was really hoping you knew the answer to that.”

“…Why would I possess that knowledge?” I asked him.

“Because you’re, well, you.” He said, and I blinked. “You just… seem to know everything, sometimes.”

“I don’t know everything, Honest.” I told him. “Just a lot.”

Honest smiled at that, though I could still see the worry in him.

I sighed, and told him, “What will be, will be, Honest. Even if the child is born with chitin, would you love them any less? Would Rose?”

Honest shook his head, taking a slow breath, and seeming better for that thought.

“…Once we get back to Ponyville.” I said, drawing his attention again, “I’ll be gone for a while.”

“Where will you be?” Honest asked me.

“Elsewhere.” I told him. “I want you to take care of Rose while I’m not there; I couldn’t have stopped her from coming along with me this time, but she can’t follow me any longer. Not in her state.”

“I will.” He said, “But what do you have to do so urgently?”

“I need to finish what I started.” I told him. “I might be a while, but I’ll be there when Rose needs me.”

“I know you will.” Honest said, stroking Rose’s mane. “I could not imagine you not being there, in fact. Not even if you had to move a mountain to arrive.”

I looked back out the window, and a short time passed before I heard Honest yawn.

“…I never thought I’d ever have a family.” He said. “I spent so many years just a member of a swarm, then out on my own, thinking that would be the same until I died. But now, I have the perfect wife, a child soon to come, and a grandmother that somehow terrifies me and yet makes me feel safe.”

I chuckled, and told him, “Stay awake until you get back home with her. It’s a stallion’s responsibility to support his wife, and I ain’t about to lug you both through town.”

Honest nodded, tired, but enduring it.

“…I ain’t going to call you grandson though.” I said after a moment. “You’re always going to just be the stallion who married my granddaughter.”

Honest laughed, and I smiled.

Honest was a lot stronger than I remembered him being. Despite his being tired, he managed to carry Rose on his back without falling over, and even managed to get her into the bed without toppling over. I’d had thought I’d have had to carry them both out of the train, but he impressed me.

He had come a long way from the weak stallion I had met in Manehatten.

I got them both comfortable, and then set out to the Everfree once again, despite the night coming. I asked the Everfree to ensure I didn’t fall asleep or otherwise grow tired; I anticipated a long time I would stay awake.

Remember when I said my dreams were busy?

That was because the crystal tree invaded them, possessing a will to speak with me and lacking the patience for me to get around to getting back to it on my own.

Within my dream, it appeared as a great, shining tree, rising high into the skies, but its voice came from a pony made of light, pure white sparkling in many colors. It had a lot to say.

It began by telling me about itself; about Harmony. It claimed to be the cause of Equestria itself, having forged the land from the primordial chaos before, and giving it its first lives: ponies. But even so early, all was not right, for Harmony fought many things. Its rival Discord, was the greatest threat, but many opposed Harmony.

In order to protect the very land from being torn asunder, Harmony claimed, it took the form of a crystal tree, using itself as the anchor for the world as the cost of its own freedom. It fought against, near as I could tell, more or less everything; struggling to have Equestria become Harmony’s vision of perfection. It did so quite well, sealing countless threats away and preventing many more form ever entering Equestria at all, but though Harmony defeated and repelled many foes, many other ones slipped past it, entering Equestria and wreaking havoc upon the land and the ponies.

Thus, Harmony decide to splinter parts of itself, and grant those shards to ponies, so that ponykind might wield a fraction of harmony’s power against their and Harmony’s many foes. The first form of the elements of harmony, but the elements were meant for more than merely giving ponies a weapon to defend themselves.

Harmony used those same elements to ‘guide’ ponykind. The elements influenced ponies in many ways, from just by being themselves, all the way to striking out against the ponies themselves, when ponykind fell too far from Harmony’s path. The current bearers, it told me, were pleasing to it; they were easily taught, as compared to the twin princesses, who had actually managed to get Harmony to bend a little.

The elements had never been meant to be used by only two, and yet, the twin alicorns had somehow managed it. The twins had even used Harmony’s power in ways Harmony had not planned them to be used; not just using the elements as weapons, but making them tools of creation and healing as well.

Harmony didn’t disprove of their actions, but hadn’t liked being unable to influence the twins, and didn’t fully approve of their clever uses for Harmony’s minor incarnations. To the extent that Harmony had felt a little relived when Luna had snapped with jealousy; it granted Celestia the power to banish her own sister and then sealed the elements away until bearers more suitable to Harmony eventually emerged.

It told me all that without any hint of regret nor remorse; it was more pride. Harmony didn’t see anything wrong with denying ponies the elements for nearly a thousand years in what, to my mind, was petty vengeance against the twin princesses. It even thought that allowing Celestia to wield all six against her own sister had been a kind act; a sacrifice on its part so as to teach the two a stern lesson.

Luna, disrupting the peace of ponies, was banished to the moon, and Celestia was left by herself, with powerless elements, ponykind reeling from the twins’ fight, and foes realizing that the elements no longer defended ponies.

I can only imagine how Celestia somehow forged the Equestria of today under such conditions.

It then told me that it was greatly impressed by my ability to break those same elements, and more so for my ability to find the pure forms. Harmony respected me, and it told me that it had thought of a great, grand, idea. However, as time was running out, it said it wished to meet with me ‘as soon as your duties elsewhere are done’.

Leaving me to wake groggy and confused, since dreaming like that was near the same as staying awake.

When I returned to the crystal tree that night, it told me of its idea.

Harmony struggled against many foes, and even the elements did not fully protect Equestria. For ages though, nothing could be done, but in me, Harmony saw its ultimate victory.

It envisioned me as its chosen champion; to imbue me with a large portion of its power, and I would become the final piece Harmony needed to fully realize its vision of Equestria. Defeating the threats against harmony, guiding its peoples and even the lands themselves along Harmony’s predetermined path. To, more or less, become Harmony’s avatar.

It didn’t actually say that this would mean I couldn’t make my own choices, but it gave me a glimpse of its vision, and frankly, Harmony didn’t much like anything making its own choices. And if ponies would be restricted to what Harmony desired, I had no illusions that I, its voice and champion, would be limited even more.

I refused it, several times over, but Harmony was adamant that I would somehow be of aid to it, and I was determined to teach it humility, so the dealing began.

I sat arguing with the crystal tree for that entire night and two days more, the Everfree granting me life so as to sustain me during this process. Then, finally, we found a deal we both felt satisfied with, and sealed it.

Harmony would allow me to decide the fate of any of Equestria’s races, since Harmony felt that several, such as the changelings, shouldn’t be upon the world at all. However, I had to, in some way, align with Harmony’s desire; I could not directly decide against it. In addition, Harmony would turn a blind eye to the lands, and allow them their own wills.

It would also allow me to free Equestria’s spirits, on the explicit terms that I would see to their ‘redemption’, or at the very least, ensuring that they no longer posed a clear threat to harmony. In addition, I could only ‘teach’ two spirits at a time, and during their time ‘learning’, they had to be bound to me; I could not have Harmony release every spirit it imprisoned all at once, and Harmony had to approve before I could free them from me.

Finally, Harmony would respond to my calls as any other spirit might, and could be bargained with for favors or gifts in the same manner.

For all that, I had to take up Harmony’s cause for a single day a week, and act as its direct representative; Harmony would freely grant me whatever aid I wished of it during this time. However, even during this time, I did not have to perfectly obey Harmony, though I did have to accomplish its goals to Harmony’s satisfaction. This had the sole exception that I would not destroy, exile, or otherwise wipe out a race of Equestria, and Harmony couldn’t order me to destroy or change anything I created, change my chosen life, or influence or subjugate any land.

I would also act to defend Harmony from any new threats to it, and if Harmony was ever harmed or weakened, I would act to repair or restore it as soon as possible. Finally, I could never directly act against Harmony as I once had.

We would also both remain friendly with one another, and if either of us upset the other, we would immediately act to make amends or otherwise seek to sooth the conflict.

Finally, this deal would not come into effect until after my natural death. I wanted to spend my final years in peace and calm, and Harmony not only granted me that, but allowed for the Everfree to keep its own will; as a gift to me.

That finally done and over with, I finally returned to my hut, to give it a quick clean from its long time empty, and finally rest in my own bed. Even though the Everfree sustained me during those days of argument, the forest cannot aid the mind, and after two days arguing, I was exhausted.

Rose had her child two days later; a beautiful golden filly with striking rose eyes and a red and orange mane. She named her New Dawn, and she’s a perfectly normal filly, save for one thing about her:

She has a near perfect ability to know and understand another’s emotions.

It only made the foal more endearing, becoming the glint in her parents’ eyes and the delight of my own heart. Much of the time I had left was spent being with Rose and spoiling Dawn. But I spent time with others as well.

Discord often came to my home, reliving himself of the strain of having to hold back his chaos, and laughing with me at his own antics. I saw the girls now and then, and after some time, managed to understand Scootaloo’s wings enough to ensure that someday, once she matured, she’d be able to fly. Sweetie just liked being around me, but Applebloom took a direct interest in my knowledge of plants.

A knowledge that leaked to her sister, and I talked to Applejack about natural forests as she told me all about farming. She impressed me with her passion for her orchard, and I hinted that, if she took the right actions, she could have her orchard awaken as a forest in its own right. She seemed intrigued, and later on, I would help guide her in doing so. It would take years, but some day, the orchard would gain its own voice.

Pinkie taught me some recipes and I told her some of my own, those that didn’t include meat anyway. She showed me how to use sugar, and I taught her about natural sugars, and how to cook over an open flame.

She taught me how to use a stove, and for my birthday, she surprised me with one of my own. Which came along with her and Rainbow improving upon my hut when I was otherwise preoccupied, and Rainbow gave me a real cloud bed of my very own. They shocked me speechless with that.

Rarity baffled me, talking about design and fashion and etiquette, and I often dismayed her with my own knowledge of the subject. She tried to teach me how to sew and I taught her how to crochet. Fluttershy surprised me with her ability with animals, an I first suspected her of having some talent as a hag. But she doesn’t; whatever has her able to understand and be understood by animals is her own talent, and nothing to do with my arts.

Twilight often asked me about hags, the Order, and anything else I would know. But a lot of what she wanted to know wasn't something I could tell her; some things can only be known as a Hag. Twilight asked me about becoming one, and I guided her through the preparation; she lacks natural talent, but makes up for it with her own determination to master things.

She ultimately turned back from the final step, however. She feared what might change in her if she were to offer a piece of her, and feared what might be asked of her in the first place.

But Rose took it.

As I had already seen, Rose made for a talented and able hag; given just a little advice, I’m sure that she would have trained herself eventually. She made me proud of her; she even got roses to start growing in the Everfree, and the forest is almost as friendly with her as it is with me; entirely due to her, and nothing I did.

Honest worked hard, and managed to get himself a job as a royal envoy, and soon after, Chrysalis herself got him to be the changeling diplomat, working directly under her, the queen who had once ordered his death. Chrysalis relies on him, to his pride, and he was even a part of the diplomatic group when griffons and ponies reconfirmed their treaty as Greatwing slowly reunited the griffon empire.

And, four years later, I died. In my own hut, in the bed Rainbow had given me, surrounded by those important to me. Given the opportunity to say the last words to those I cared about, and to hear their own goodbyes. I breathed my last with a smile on my face.

Now, you know I told Discord I gained something more from Avarantus. In the simplest terms, I’d spent my final years as an Avar, and after my death, I’d become a spirit myself. Not wholly so though; there are differences, and honestly, I’m pretty sure I don’t know all of them, even now.

Starting with the experience of floating out of my body, feeling renewed and powerful, and then realizing I didn’t know how to move myself. Wasn't like anypony there was aware of my struggle, but, thankfully, Discord was present and spotted me, flailing around.

He kept silent and later taught me how to handle myself, and soon enough, I was free to go where I wished.

I’d already made up my mind. I wasn't going to linger around Rose. I had a deal to keep, and a whole world I wanted to see. Someday, I told myself, I’d return.

I would never imagine I would do so like I did.

The Hag, the heroes, and a few other things

by Amaranthine Thought

Breaking harmony 1

Breaking harmony 2

Breaking Harmony 3

Breaking Harmony 4

Breaking Harmony 5

Breaking Harmony End

Interlude: Fixing Harmony

Finding Happiness 1

Finding Happiness 2

Finding Happiness 3

Finding Happiness 4

Finding Happiness 5

Finding Happiness 6

Finding Happiness End

An end and a new beginning

Undying Loyalty 1

Undying Loyalty 2

Looking Elsewhere

Undying Loyalty 3

Undying Loyalty 4

Undying Loyalty 5

Undying Loyalty End

Great Magic 1

Honest

Stonebeak

Great Magic 2

Truth and Lies

Revelation and Destruction

Return

End 1

End 2

End 3

End 4